Benitez on the brink?
Such is the confusion with Fernando Torres's health that when I read the words Inguinal Hernia in relation to the poor bloke this week, I assumed it was some striker from Atletico Madrid that Rafa had signed up to replace the ailing superstar.
But I have sympathy with Benitez at the mo. The makeshift 11 he put out in Lyon did him proud, really. His only real error appears to be putting Voronin on the pitch from the outset. It's a good surface to play on already without adding more fertilizer.
Then again, Babel's wonderful strike could hardly have been predicted. It was as shocking as finding the sonnets of William Shakespeare under the arm of Kerry Katona. Or the revelation that Russell Brand is now, apparently, monogamous. More foreseeable was the equaliser, given Liverpool's ill luck right now.
Rafa's not given up hope and certainly they should hammer Debrecen, whose keeper Pantic sounds a bit like an intimate fungal infection and is about as useful between the sticks as a mushroom.
Benitez makes his point in Lyon
You can't see Fiorentina not bagging a point against Lyon, but if they don't grab all three, it could be one hell of a last stand at Anfield. It'll lead to Clive Tyldesley or someone virtually wetting himself as he trots out his 'Liverpool In Europe' Almanac.
In the meantime there'll be renewed calls for the head of the coach, and while he has 11 players that contain only half a goalscorer amongst them, it's not surprising.
Trouble is, who's available to take the bearded apologist's post? Southgate? Keegan? Phil Brown come Sunday? Maybe Hansen'll get off the couch for a month-and-a-half after Shearer set the standards last season.
Nah, they'll stick with Rafa. And maybe this lad Hernia can turn the tide for them after the January transfer window.
There couldn't be a greater contrast with United's derring-do the night before. At 3-1 down you just knew they'd got a couple of goals left in them.
Wazza came on, fresh from the arrival of his new son. We like the Rooneys a bit more than your average Lad and Wag: childhood sweethearts, who insisted on using the local NHS hozzie rather than some fancy private job.
Of course, United's last gasp point-grabber came via the latest kind deflection. It was so inevitable I almost expected Zat Knight to pull on a Moscow shirt and turn it in to the Russian net for them.
Didier Drogba won't be shaking in his boots at the thought of facing Brown and Evans this weekend, mind you. When he's perpendicular there's no better centre-forward in the world. And frankly now that teams just play on when he rolls around the turf like a bloke on fire trying to put himself out, even that part of his game is way less irritating.
In the meantime, Arsenal continue to be the team that most of us would support if we had no local allegiance.
Fabregas gives the thumbs-up to Arsenal's display against AZ Alkmaar
They were helped a bit by the ineptitude of AZ Alkmaar - not so much a football club as a street atlas. The way their lank-haired keeper Romero (presumably named after Batman actor Cesar Romero, who played The Joker) fell over Fabregas's trundler for Arsenal's opener was atrocious - like watching a flea-bitten sheepskin rug being tossed by a pensioner at an unwelcome mouse.
But I think when Pele called it the Beautiful Game, this is what he had in mind. I know some of you are getting tired of blokes like me going into sycophantic raptures about the Gooners but unless you support Spurs with the kind of fundamentalism that would make the Spanish Inquisition blush, you have to agree that the way they knock it about right now is the dog's doodahs.
Wenger was asked whether he thought Andrey Arshavin was being over-confident in saying that they could win the Premier League and the Champs League... what a stupid question! I can't wait till some Boro lad expresses such self-assurance. But I guess I'm going to bloomin' well have to.
Arshavin, Fabregas, Van Persie, Nasri, Rosicky, Eduardo, Diaby, hell even Bendtner's learnt to trap it. Worth 40 quid of anyone's money.
The Emirates Stadium has been a success too, save for the deathly quiet that sometimes overcomes the place.
But who will be Mike Ashley's Emirates?
The current name is sportsdirect.com @ St James' Park Stadium. Hmmm, punchy! You can't blame big Mike for taking the opportunity to remind the world that he is actually a successful businessman in his real life. (No lads, supporting Newcastle United can hardly be called Real Life).
It's hard to guess which company might come in to sponsor St James's. The fact that Northern Rock was on the shirts until a while back seemed wholly appropriate, but now?
In the meantime I think Newcastle United should remind its fans of its great heritage. The quickest road out of there could be renamed Kevin Keegan Walk. If they ever need to build a temporary terrace that could be the Alan Shearer Stand. The best stand of the lot should be The Sir Bobby Robson Stand.
And surely it's only a matter of time before Cheryl Cole has enough to cash to buy into the whole place herself. The 'Britain's Favourite Geordie Stadium' has a nice ring to it.
I'm Derek Robson. People call me Robbo. Legend has it I was raised in the furnace and smog of Teesside. Some might say I took the hard road. I like to tell folk I had trials for Middlesbrough, for Hartlepool and for burglary (not guilty). I've always loved sport. My job is to say it as I see it - whether it's in the bar of the Blue Bell or on this blog. You won't find me calling a spade a soil-redistribution implement.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~57~RS~)
Comments
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The "makeshift" 11 Rafa put out are all international players.Clive Tydsley was appalling on Wednesday.You just knew that as soon as he said "If Liverpool could score a second..." that Lyon would score.
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'It's a good surface to play on already without adding more fertilizer.'
Classic, Robbo ;)
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Another gem sir, covering and ofcourse improving on most of the points us mere mortals were discussing towards the end of your previous effort.
Love the Inguinal Hernia bit, and I for one could certainly imagine seeing that name alongside Fábio Aurélio & Insua on a teamsheet.
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Another cracking blog Robbo.
Mike Ashley's Emirates sounds better than sportsdirect.com@StJamesPark :)
Now it's a short wait for JDR to come on and slate your blog and watch everyone else comment.
Come on U Super Hoops-A !!!
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LoveQPR.Can we have our manager back please?
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Liverpool arent the only team with injuries...
There just the only team that have no plan B.
Hell slap it into them, a good manager woulda had players to back up incase of injuries.
Voronin, now theres a player that makes emile heskey look like Pele.
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There couldn't be a greater contrast with United's derring-do the night before. At 3-1 down you just knew they'd got a couple of goals left in them.
Don't really see this. We drew away with an established European power, Man U scrape a draw at home against a minnow, and somehow you see a contrast in Man U's favour.
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Great blog Robbo.
I'm almost starting to feel sorry for LIverpool, almost. Missing out on the CL knockout phase will be costly, especially if they don't quite make the top four. But i'm sure they were in a similar situation in 2005 so if they manage to pull that off again? Well, hats off to them.
I do sometimes get the impression thay Benitez is behaving like a spoilt child. When Liverpool had their wobble mid-way through last season he got a strop on and wrangled a new contract. His behaviour seems to have an affect on the team. It makes them injured.
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VAG Fluid Controls@St James Park (real company)
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3. At 1:19pm on 05 Nov 2009, Holloway2Holland wrote:
Another gem sir, covering and ofcourse improving on most of the points us mere mortals were discussing towards the end of your previous effort.
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H2H, did you just, very politely and ever so nicely, accuse Robbo of plagiarism?
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another top class blog Robbo..."putting Voronin on the pitch from the outset. It's a good surface to play on already without adding more fertilizer" LMAO! quality!
Lyon had some class players i think UTD should look at..esp that Lisandro...
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Unconfirmed reports suggest Cheryl already has enough money to buy up NUFC for the 80mill asking price.
Its Ashley who is insists the price is ridiculously and insultingly high and wont pay a penny over 79,995,000.
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Bit of a misleading title, not much about Rafa's demise (which I love reading about!).
By the way, is there anyone more despicable than the Cole's? Can't satnd Cashley for obvious reasons, but she really gets my goat with her smugness.
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I know some of you are getting tired of blokes like me going into sycophantic raptures about the Gooners but unless you support Spurs with the kind of fundamentalism that would make the Spanish Inquisition blush, you have to agree that the way they knock it about right now is the dog's doodahs.
Arsenal deserve all the praise they are getting right now, it is an absolute pleasure to watch football being played in this manner, Wenger is a true footballing genius, at the beginning of the season all and sundry were writing them off and asking why Wenger is spending any money!! well now it is apparent!! he has been working with these players day in day out for years now (plus 2 key additions Vermaelan & Arshavin) and knew that all the hard work would be coming to fruition and that has to be applauded.
Thank you Arsene you are a true great
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but what is Rafa supposed to do, FEN? i personally would have preferred Babel to start over Voro last night, as there is always a chance he'll do something, and given that Robbo has already summed up Voro's contribution beautifully, don't need to compare that to what Steffi Voro offers. other than that i don't see that he's had a chance to sign that many players that would get in the Man U or Chelsea team.
the Xabi/Barry thing was stupid, but since then it's been a tied-hands situation, and i admire him for sticking with it so far, given that he could have been Real manager if he wanted.
Also, Robbly O, what do you think of my idea for Boro lowering ticket prices until the stadium is full, for the team's sake?
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Don't really see this. We drew away with an established European power, Man U scrape a draw at home against a minnow, and somehow you see a contrast in Man U's favour.
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If someone asked me to name an established european power in world football, pretty sure id say: Madrid, Barca, Milan, Inter, Bayern, Juve..... etc. Lyon arent quite in the same league now benzema and juninho are gone. In fact it could be argued that CSKA are a more succesful side in europe, having won the UEFA cup not so long ago.
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I really feel bad for all the Newcastle fans. To have such a great heritage, their football stadium, named after some website... horrifying. I know that teams get paid big money for this, but changing the name of a football stadium for sake of some sponsorship deal is just a step too far, even for today's economy where everything is for sale. I would feel very disappointed and ashamed if Man United changed the name Old Trafford to let's say the Coca-Cola stadium.
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at 7. Lyon a European Super power?...since when? for liverpool it was a must win game with the state of their CL campaign so far.
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And just to point out to the first poster. Insua has only just made his debut for argentina, and lucas only has 4 caps for brazil. hardly established internationals with a longstanding pedigree like voronin.............
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15. At 1:38pm on 05 Nov 2009, captainlazytim wrote:
the Xabi/Barry thing was stupid, but since then it's been a tied-hands situation, and i admire him for sticking with it so far, given that he could have been Real manager if he wanted.
If Alonso had been performing like he did last season for the 2007/08 campaign there wouldn't have been a Xabi/Barry situation.
Being the club we are we're fair game in this situation for the jibes and brickbats of fans of other clubs but I do expect better of our own and Whelan & Souness need to have a good look at themselves following their recent comments.
I still believe Benitez to be one of the top managers in the game and fully expect him to lead us out of this and secure a Top 4 finish this season.
The biggest problem at our club remains the two potless chancers that own us.
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7. At 1:28pm on 05 Nov 2009, captainlazytim wrote:
There couldn't be a greater contrast with United's derring-do the night before. At 3-1 down you just knew they'd got a couple of goals left in them.
Don't really see this. We drew away with an established European power, Man U scrape a draw at home against a minnow, and somehow you see a contrast in Man U's favour.
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That 'minnow' won the Uefa cup the other year.
The point is United had about a million injuries and still fielded a team that could hang on and get the result they needed to get the job done while Liverpool in the same boat couldn't.
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like watching a flea-bitten sheepskin rug being tossed by a pensioner at an unwelcome mouse.
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Top drawer that one
Tim CSKA Moscow are hardly minnows and Lyon are hardly an established power either. They are both the same quality it's just that United always looked like they had enough ideas to turn it around whereas Liverpool are struggling when Torres goes off at the moment problem being theough is he can't last th e90 currently so what choice does Rafa have?
Imagine replacing one bearded apologist with another although the sight of Phil Brown with that ghastly goatee again would turn your stomach.
And as for Cheryl Cole - no, no, no , no - too much of her on the X-Factor at the moment without giving the great crested (talentless) warbler any more publicity. -
Also a word to Neil Tennnat & Chris Lowe - like Zammo when Girls Aloud as "can we use that lovely song you wrote"
JUST SAY NO!!
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As an Arsenal fan - sycophantic raptures always appreciated.
As a Plymouth Argyle fan - oh dear God I hope we win at the weekend.
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Post 18, coldnt agree more.
at 7. just to remind you, united had the oppotunity to take it easy as they had all but qualified, whereas for liverpool it was backs against the wall stuff and they failed to deliver
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17. At 1:44pm on 05 Nov 2009, Red_Devil_21 wrote:
I would feel very disappointed and ashamed if Man United changed the name Old Trafford to let's say the Coca-Cola stadium.
Indeed - i reckon it's only a matter of time though.
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#10 Spitfire, no way mate, that p word is well out of the realms of my vocabulary, much to hard to spell or pronounce, let alone accuse any one of doing.
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also how did robbo resist commenting on rafa qouting lines from youll never walk alone in that press conference??
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There should not be any debate on Arsenal's status on the world footballing map. True, they havent won anything for 4 years but they have always produced football any opposition could be wary of. I can hardly remember few games which Gunners played too badly to lose (Loss to Hull City, Aston Villa in EPL and Man U in Champs League SF last year) are the only ones which we really deserved to lose. But apart from that Arsenal have been fantastic joy to watch on the field. We have also been shrewd and most economical in the transfer market by capturing likes of Nasri, Arshavin & Vermaelen.
The success is coming to Emirates Stadium in form of trophies and growing public adulation in May 2010.
May Arshavin's words come true. In Wenger we trust.
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I do enjoy reading this blog every week!!
There is only one reason why liverpool struggle. Benitez and his poor purchases. He has been there five years and still not assembled a squad. People say he hasnt been able to buy good players. He spends his money on average/poor players. The other so called top 4 have back up in every position. Liverpool do not. Simples.
And that comes from a (frustrated) liverpool fan.
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17. At 1:44pm on 05 Nov 2009, Red_Devil_21 wrote:
I really feel bad for all the Newcastle fans. To have such a great heritage, their football stadium, named after some website... horrifying.
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I would agree but I'm too busy laughing
There is more chance of Anfield renaming itself as Hicks already has previous form for doing that with oher franchises he has owned (texas Rangers and I think he did the same with Corinthians).
The 7UP stadium anyone (he used to own that and DR Pepper)
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If Alonso had been performing like he did last season for the 2007/08 campaign there wouldn't have been a Xabi/Barry situation.
agreed, tomm. but still, even then i didn't fancy Barry to do the job
Adam, Jake, and Back-Pocket
Comparing CSKA to Lyon (9 consecutive years in the Group Stage of the CL) is not really that clever, but if you want to persist with this then we'll just have to disagree. Maybe minnows was a bit OTT though, i take it back.
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Adam,is that where the scousers are hoping to finish this season?
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I can see Mourinho taking over at Liverpool. He HATES Benitez with a passion. can't see him at Man U - nothing to prove.
The thought of being successful and winning the leaugue while Benitez couldn't would be great for his ego. I am sure he would love to keep reminding us our successful he is!
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29. At 1:57pm on 05 Nov 2009, topbanana wrote:
I do enjoy reading this blog every week!!
There is only one reason why liverpool struggle. Benitez and his poor purchases. He has been there five years and still not assembled a squad. People say he hasnt been able to buy good players. He spends his money on average/poor players. The other so called top 4 have back up in every position. Liverpool do not. Simples.
And that comes from a (frustrated) liverpool fan.
and was that your opinion back in May when we finished ahead of Chelsea & Arsenal ?
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ahh watching liverpool suffer...makes me so happy, please lets hope they keep the fat controller in charge
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Have to say Robbo that this week isnt your best effort - again possibly due to the short time frame involved in producing the blog. A bit too much of a comic attempt at a mid week round up designed to support a few gags which didnt really hold any real issues of discussion apart from the long running Liverpool saga.
The issue of Benitez possibly being kept on for want of a better candidate is interesting though. My own personal opinion is that O'Neill would be a success there and wouldnt necessarily need billions to turn things around. I think O'Neill is good at providing harmony and balance on the field and dressing room which is something Liverpool are crying out for. Some would say he wouldnt leave Villa but I think on a personal level it would be an opportuinity hard to turn down. Id expect Villa to fight to keep him anyway.
On a side note - in reference to your blog a few weeks back which bemoaned the lack of surprise and routine nature of the group stages. Is this still an opinion you maintain or has the possibility of Bayern, Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid etc potentially not qualifying and the minnows Rubin Kazan and Unirea making a go of it changed your mind?
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Robbo - quality again.
The boy Voronin must have KGB friends with something on Rafa. There's no plausible explanantion for playing him, let alone hanging your Champions League hat on that waste of oxygen.
As for the Gunners, you can wax lyrical all you want. This is a team that plays for each other and looks better and better all the time.
No visit to the newly named Barcode Stadium would be complete without a walk down Peter Beardsley Way - certainly not pretty, but a fast and effective route to a goal.
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Joe it looks like the groups have kicked some very surprising reesults although it would need a disaster against Zurick to stop Real as I can't see them not winning at home against teh Swiss.
Liverpool I think will fail to quality and there is a real danger that Barcelona & Bayern won't and would possibly represent the 1st holders to ever be knocked out of the CL at the group stage
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Why would Mourinho ever go to Liverpool?! Remember how snippy he was when Abramovich decided to control transfer spending and who he could buy etc. Now imagine that doubled with Gillett and Hicks. There is no way he would go there, no matter how much Liverpool fans would wish for a big name manager to do it.
If Benitez does get the boot then maybe it is time to return to the Bootroom tradition and give Sammy Lee a chance to run the team? This would at least minimise the costs of bringing a big name manager in. A big name manager does not always equate to success - i remember when Arsene Wenger came to England there was a lot of people saying "Arsene who??".
wrt Liverpool - I honestly cannot believe that a football club can be managed so badly - until I look to the North East and see Newcastle United. The stadium renaming is hilarious and a guaranteed source of ridicule on the Toon Army by fans of every other team in the land (much like their horrible yellow away kit).
Having said that, i am not going to confuse Newcastle's ground with Exeter City's anymore, which is always a bonus (you can tell them apart as Exeters has more fans in it).
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Sirmouseburger you have given us the future
Sammy Lee
The best guarantee you will ever have of Liverpool being relegated (remember Bolton)
All UTD & Everton fans should petition the owners
SAMMY LEE FOR MANAGER
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As a Spurs fan I hate the fact the Rasnal play such good football but trying to retain some sort of balance you have to say they are the most attractive team to watch in the premiership and maybe even europe. It hurts to say this but it's true
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Ladies, Ladies, (meaning non Liverpool supporters jumping on the wagon), Can you please wait until the end of the season to judge us as you are seriously asking for some major egg face / humble pie scenario... Remember super Sunday this week will have major handbags between Chelski and Man Who with Drogba splittinga nail and Berba messing up his hairdo... Who needs WAGs with them girls on show???
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Isn't calling Voronin 'fertilizer' a bit like calling a spade a soil-redistribution implement.
Tell it how it is lad...
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United have been putting out a makeshift team all season!
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As I said elsewhere, NUFC should have called it The Michael Owen Stadium in memory of their most loyal and devoted player of recent years.
As for Benitez, he is safe at Mediapool as long as the Yanks are there for the Kop to blame for everything from the Beatles split to Torres' hernia. Not forgetting Clive "the thinking Manc's Alan Green" Tyldesley, of course. How dare Liverpool have to tolerate such a biased commentator!
But Liverpool, the soap opera of English football, will qualify for the CL next phase and get a top 4 Premiership finish, if only because of the
inherently shite nature of the competition.
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Re whateveritscalleddotcom@SJP,
Who cares? Over a few years all stadiums, NOT MY TEAMS, I hear you argue, YES your teams too, will have a sponsers name on it, it's just another way to make more money, and at the end of the day the bottom line is all about the bottom line.
Football sold out with sponsers names splashed accross every clubs shirts years ago*, so this is just the next logical step.
I'm sure the Newcastle fans won't be moaning so much when the cash raised is used to strengthen their squad and maybe help them back to the PL. (but then again geordies.................)
*except Barcelona.
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"Liverpool's ill luck"
what a load of cobblers.
First, you make your own luck.
Second, if there IS luck, Liverpool have had plenty of it. Just because they don't always take the opportunity when they have long extra time, favourable referees, come up against a team in a critical game who have just as many injuries and who can't still field a full team of internationals, doesn't mean they deserve mean they haven't had the chances.
Reminds me of that story about the Christian in the middle of a Flood, who prays to God for rescue. A lump of wood comes along, but he refused to take it to float on; a boat comes along, but he ignores it and continues to pray; a helicopter hovers overhead but he's having none of it. When he eventually drowns, he asks God why he didn't save him, and God points out that he sent the wood, a boat and a helicopter - what more did he want?
The best news of the sitation at Liverpool is that they can't afford to get rid of agent Benitez, nor buy new players, and yet they have to put their all into winning their last game which may yet be fruitless! Perfect.
As for Voronin... does he have the worst touch in football? Classic bit from the commentary was him "accidentally kicking it with his left leg". If a footballer can't control his legs, what the hell can he do?
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Topical stuff indeed Robbo. Tip of the cap.
You lot still have Bomfire night right? Will the Guy be sporting Voronin's boots? I reckon he has the same barber as Agassi used to have and his continuous failure to impress just begs the question, is he also a friend of "Slim"?
The apostrophe that Joe used in "O'Neil" is marginally more impressive than the Man U fight back, well done that lad.
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The reason why Benitez started Voronin as opposed to the much better Ngog or more threatening Babel is that he is actually a useless manager. I have been left baffled by some of his substitutions of late e.g. withdrawing Benayoun in games when he was the most obvious goal threat Liverpool had, paying £17mm for Johnson but not for Barry ha! Childishly messing up the whole Alonso situation, buying expensive and then selling off Keane at a discount ha! Playing a defensive formation against teh likes of Stoke, Hull ha!!! Same stupid decisions he makes on the pitch all the time. He was just lucky last season and you cant be lucky all the time.
Clearly he is no genius. He makes his team work hard, but then so does Sam Allardyce, David Moyes and Tony Pullis! He just has more money to spend than these guys, no way on earth is he a better manager tahn any of these guys. Not especially Moyes.
£200 million on players in 5 years most of the Keane-like transactions! (Hofffs) If I did that in my job I'd have been sacked ages ago
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Oh my...Sammy Lee? Just the mention of his name brings on a shuddering cold sweat!
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What a poor show Liverpool made of a must win match. Torres, Voro and othes missing sitters. Benetez is not a top team manager. Robbo you put this so well.
As for Arsene and Arsenal - pure magic to watch. Title to London this year then - although can't decide whether that would be Ancalotti or Wenger
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15. At 1:38pm on 05 Nov 2009, captainlazytim wrote:
but what is Rafa supposed to do, FEN? i personally would have preferred Babel to start over Voro last night, as there is always a chance he'll do something, and given that Robbo has already summed up Voro's contribution beautifully, don't need to compare that to what Steffi Voro offers. other than that i don't see that he's had a chance to sign that many players that would get in the Man U or Chelsea team.
the Xabi/Barry thing was stupid, but since then it's been a tied-hands situation, and i admire him for sticking with it so far, given that he could have been Real manager if he wanted.
Also, Robbly O, what do you think of my idea for Boro lowering ticket prices until the stadium is full, for the team's sake?
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Lovely Idea Tim. After the last couple of 1-0 defeats, we'll start the bidding at 10 quid each - that's MFC paying us, mind.
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Oh, look, I 'm not trying to come across as a bit of a softy but Liverpool aren't enjoying the best of fortune re injuries, viruses, last minute goals, beach balls, etc. There are also issues of poor buys, poor selections, threadbare squad in the first place (Benitez's fault). But the rub of the green has not been theirs. Not that I'm weeping, you understand.
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More foreseeable was the equaliser, given Liverpool's ill luck right now.
roof if ever that 'Robbo' is not a north-eastern born and bred Boro fan but a London-based Arsenal fan in disguise.
Still, love the article.
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enjoy your blogs Robbo, Fatshley is just proving he is nothing but a fat overgrown bairn!!cos we have more than once told him to bugger off back to the smog where he came from!he was never interested in the club but took it on to make,so he thought,a quick profit-poor deluded sole,I was gonna write something else but would probably get moderated,but you all know what I meant!if you build a new stadium,then a new name is appropriate but never an exististing one.the SAF mob,true to form-injury time goal,Chelski are on fire and must surely be a contender for the title,Gooners doing well,but is it enough to play pretty football,who knows.They should all fair well in the knockouts BUT Liverpool have burnt their bridges?Yep,I think so-Babbel scored a brilliant goal,will probably never happen again,but what a cock up when Lyon equalised,to say the least.
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"Arsenal continue to be the team that most of us would support..."
I beg to differ. Not to say I don't admire the way they play. I do.
But: I never say to myself, if only there were more to dislike about the big four. There's plenty to choose from, I think, in Chelsea alone. Quite aside from the tide of cash they surfed in on, their captain, while one of the two finest English defenders of his generation, is a, well, I don't want to say chav; that would be disrespectul... Cashley isn't exactly the most likable person in the world. One of their brilliant players is an outrageous drama queen, and then there's Lampard. To be fair, he's a first-rate player and doesn't even seem to be a particularly unpleasant human being. It's just that he's Frank Lampard, and inspires my irrational dislike.
Of the other teams, there's Fergie's incessant wummery, and the legion of glory hunters traipsing after both Liverpool (though not so many now!) and Man U, just to begin with. And yet I have the most visceral dislike of all for Arsenal and their incessant, whining self-rightousness. Yes, you play beautifully. Granted. But the way Van Persie reacted to being spiked by Adeboyer summed them up. Here you have a notoriously dirty player whining to the skies about someone else playing dirty. Football isn't a morality contest, and those who inject morality into the game in order to bask in their ethical superiority drive me farther round the bend, even, than the entire, utterly charming Chelsea team.
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People keep making noise about Arsenal and winning EPL and CL. Apparently you guys forgot about last year when it was the same shout and somewhere along the line, you lost the plot and fell to 4th place. Not bashing ur teams style because it is arguably better than Man U but at the end of the day what do you want, a team that plays perfect football and no trophies or a team that grinds out results and plays perfect football sometimes but get trophies on a regular.
BTW Voronin has a horrible touch and keeping with Gaz motto..
SAVE RAFA!!!
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Cheers Robbo, nice to get positive reinforcement from the massive cheese. You reckon the homegrown talent would be more likely to stay if all the folk sat at home watching Arsenal turned up to the Riverside..side..ide..?
Don't feel apologetic, it's your blog.
Adam, Jake, BP, notice you haven't really responded, and i'm sure you know there is big difference between CSKA and Lyon. I wasn't making excuses for the performence, which was actually quite good except for the strikers (Torres was poor, very static).
The other factor is that Fergie says he had 80m to spend this summer, and chose not to, so the success of failure of his team is more in his hands. I reckon Rafa would have found a way to spend 80m, quite easily.
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Has Clive Tyldesley ever gone through a match without saying either of the following:
1. "He's behind you!" (when a player robs another player who is dawdling)
2. "They're like a boxer, stuck on the ropes" (or any other boxing analogy).
I thought Liverpool played well last night, although I believe Lyon were playing conservatively in the knowledge that a draw was enough. I do think that the talk of injuries is just an excuse for Rafa (and some Liverpool fans on this blog) though. Weren't Lyon without their entire first choice back four in the match at Anfield? Other teams cope with injuries.
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Oh how I chuckled at the post of Red_Devil_21 "I would feel very disappointed and ashamed if Man United changed the name Old Trafford to let's say the Coca-Cola stadium."
Does the removal of "Football Club" from the team badge, the waddling up and down the touchline of the Club Mascot Fred the Red and Gladitorial music being played on the PA before big games to try and generate an atmosphere not leave you disappointed and ashamed????
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57. At 2:57pm on 05 Nov 2009, MUFCTrini wrote:
People keep making noise about Arsenal and winning EPL and CL. Apparently you guys forgot about last year when it was the same shout and somewhere along the line, you lost the plot and fell to 4th place
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I think you'll find that "somewhere along the line" was pretty much around this time (maybe a little later) last year and falling to 4th place was actually fighting to get back up to 4th place.
But other than that I totally disagree. ;p
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Here here Holloway2Holland!!!
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I feel so sorry for Rafa; a huge compensation package waiting if he gets the boot. And Real Madrid sniffing round him - really though, you have to ask if he's up to the task of the managerial hotseat from the depths of hell. Why is it that, for example, Voronin couldn't stop scoring while on loan at Hertha Berlin, but now couldn't hit Iran with a cruise missile. Ok, the Bundesliga may not be quite up to the standard of the Prem, but it's not that much lower. The guy plainly has NO confidence when playing for Liverpool so who has ultimate responsibility for that? And Babel; an 11-12m price tag and bags of talent (free kicks aside) - so why has Rafa stuck him out on the left wing when he's so obviously right-footed?
It was a pity to see the Lyon equaliser go in, but there were two of their players unmarked in the box in the dying moments of the game that Liverpool had to win - that says it all.
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I am bamboozled as to why you would feel sorry for Rafa, given that yourself and the BBC football department have actively campaigned for his dismissal for years, despite (or perhaps because of) a record which stands up against, and in many cases surpasses, that of Ferguson and Wenger.
After all, here's a man who's put Liverpool back on the map with a net spend of £16.6m per season, all of which has been self-financed by his European runs. He's on a contract worth more than anyone on here could earn in a lifetime, he has a better win percentage than his peers and, in eight years, he's won two La Liga titles, the European Cup, UEFA Cup, FA Cup, been to two Champions League finals and has brought some of the best players in the world to a club which, previously, had to make do with such luminaries as Djimi Traore and Igor Biscan.
Thinly-disguised prejudice aside, I honestly cannot fathom the hatred of Benitez to the point that there's been a campaign to unseat him for years - not from Liverpool fans, you understand (and if you look at forums dedicated to REAL Liverpool fans you would recognise this - although obviously not in your own column as that would run totally against the BBC's witch-hunt using fairweather kids and post-2005 whoppers to validate your prejudices) - the VAST, VAST majority of LFC followers realise the situation at LFC, understand the reasons behind the situation and are more than prepared to give Benitez the time to get things running properly again.
Rather like REAL Man Utd fans were happy to give Ferguson the benefit of the doubt when his results were worse than woeful, I might add.
Still, enjoy your whipping of Rafa.
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redmen, they don't see irony
they invented (stole from spurs?) selling out/up, but will never admit to it
didn't eduardo get his leg turned into two legs last year? i thought that was Arsenal's undoing
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7. At 1:28pm on 05 Nov 2009, captainlazytim wrote:
There couldn't be a greater contrast with United's derring-do the night before. At 3-1 down you just knew they'd got a couple of goals left in them.
Don't really see this. We drew away with an established European power, Man U scrape a draw at home against a minnow, and somehow you see a contrast in Man U's favour.
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Well of course he does, mate.
Man United managed to do all that was needed of them to qualify with two games to spare. Liverpool failed to do what was needed of them to give them a decent hope of qualifying with two games to spare.
Man United did it with a reserve team by choice, whereas Liverpool's first choice 11 for the team (due to injuries to most of their best players) wouldn't make it in to Morecambe's Reserves team.
On a surprising point, this was actually a very enjoyable blog from Robbo.
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49. At 2:41pm on 05 Nov 2009, DazzlinDapsy wrote:
Even adam & Gaz are going to struggle to top that for ill-informed tosh on the subject of LFC - congrats !!!
63. At 3:13pm on 05 Nov 2009, NEARPOSTHEADER wrote:
- so why has Rafa stuck him out on the left wing when he's so obviously right-footed?
Did you see his goal last night?
64. At 3:13pm on 05 Nov 2009, BeyondThePale wrote:
great post
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Eric, my Great Uncle Fred was from Morecambe, he'd be very upset with you!
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Redmen - considering every club has a mascot and plays some sort of music to get the crowd going I'm not sure what there is to be ashamed of. Does it matter if teh words football club appear on the badge - as long as it says Manchester United then that's who it represents.
Rather that than going to London to sit with 60,000 extras in a football version of the Dr Who episode SILENCE IN THE LIBRARY.
And Tim - In terms of fan-base, size & domestic history Lyon are older and at least in recent years have been more dominant they haven't really progressed beyond the last 16 before so are not I would say in those terms any bigger than CSKA who also have a number of domestic successes and have (unlike Lyon) won a European trophy and that was recently.
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But surely the main criticism of Benitez is that with 2 or 3 key players missing, the rest of his squad is patently not good enough. He has spent £200m over 7 years and with the exception of Torres & Gerrard (and occasionally Mascherano & Carragher), the rest is on a par with a mid table team and nowhere near good enough to claim a CL spot.
The strengths of Man Utd & chelsea is their squad depth, if you take 3 or 4 players out, the team is still a reasonably good one, but with Liverpool without Gerrard & Torres its distinctly average. Meaning (with the exception of Torres) the signings Benitez has made aren't up to it. After all, who bought the likes of Voronin, Babel, Lucas etc
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65 captainlazytim,
That was the year before mate.
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61. At 3:10pm on 05 Nov 2009, Holloway2Holland wrote:
57. At 2:57pm on 05 Nov 2009, MUFCTrini wrote:
I agree. I forgot that it was Villa who was punching above their weight. Its all well though. At least Arsenal still has a chance at the Kiddies Cup...well, maybe not...Fergie got to appraise his trophy cabinet and see if there is room left in there...remember he still needs space for 3 trophies, EPL, CL and FA Cup.
But on a serious note, I think Rafa's time is up. Its true his tactics led to victorious European ventures in the past few years but his refusal to change his way of thinking now ultimately led to his current demise. Along with, as Robbo says, really bad luck and second class players....Voronin, Lucas anybody
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60. Redmen
"Does the removal of "Football Club" from the team badge, the waddling up and down the touchline of the Club Mascot Fred the Red and Gladitorial music being played on the PA before big games to try and generate an atmosphere not leave you disappointed and ashamed????"
I love it how you equate having a mascot to 'selling out'. Damn Manchester United for attempting to entertain young fans!!!
64. BeyondThePale
"I honestly cannot fathom the hatred of Benitez to the point that there's been a campaign to unseat him for years"
You're sounding very paranoid there. There hasn't been a 'campaign' - the press/pundits just tend to talk about what is right in front of them.
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64. At 3:13pm on 05 Nov 2009, BeyondThePale wrote:
I am bamboozled as to why you would feel sorry for Rafa, given that yourself and the BBC football department have actively campaigned for his dismissal for years, despite (or perhaps because of) a record which stands up against, and in many cases surpasses, that of Ferguson and Wenger.
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There is cofee EVERYWHERE!
and then he wrote
and if you look at forums dedicated to REAL Liverpool fans you would recognise this
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Now why would us normal people got to forums dedicated to REAL Liverpool fans?
While I think the criticism and calling for head of Rafa is a bit OTT, hate to spoil it for you but there is no conspiracy against LFC.
Stop reading Dan Brown.
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66. At 3:18pm on 05 Nov 2009, EricDantona wrote:
the reason they did it with a reserve team is because they were playing moscow at home, not lyon away.
also, i don't know if this is a wierd year, but Liverpool have a tough group, especially given that some of our team are out, and the rest are rubbish.
Thought Lucas was good again, though
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"But surely the main criticism of Benitez is that with 2 or 3 key players missing, the rest of his squad is patently not good enough."
Last time I looked, it was twelve players either out altogether or playing with injuries.
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Yes, yes, Arsenal play some pretty football. But we all know when the luck and favourable calls stop, when the hard times come, they'll throw their toys out of the pram and spend more time whining than playing football.
We all know the Arsenal collapse will come and it will be another season of no trophies for Wenger but he will continue to get blind support from the Media.
As for my team, well, we'll just have to take the abuse for now and hope things turn around. Though the sycophantic, xenophobic treatment of Rafa by the media is quite disgusting and I applaud Robo for at least changing the tune - but he'll be back to slagging him off again soon.
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BTP... Mate, i think they're are more liverpool fans and ex-players in the media than of any other team... If you can tell me the team which has more i would gladly listen/read. But i dont think you will be able to... And also, this "After all, here's a man who's put Liverpool back on the map with a net spend of £16.6m per season"
Can you ust breifly go over this, i dont pay particular attention to the coming and goings of liverpool, but i would swear he has spent more than this...
Not wuming but want to know the truth... and any one who thinks Rafa is a BAD mamanger is a plum... The record you listed proves that.
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I have a problem with people expelling the virues of arsenal's passing play.
Not because it isnt good, it is, and should be enjoyed...
But why arent other teams heralded for producing similar passing moves?
Arsenal V Liverpool in the carling cup for instance, all we heard about was Arsenal's great passing movement, when liverpool produced some equally attractive, flowing, passing football...
Its a misnomer to think Arsenal dont use the long ball, and a lot of their goals have been from corners this season...
Also, maybe a bit off topic, but does anyone else feel the standard of the premier league, referees, press coverage and punditry is quite appauling???
Football is no longer a sport, just a business and i just feel that the above further alienates fans...
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RBA,
http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=249365.0
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H2H, my apologies, memory used to be better, i think...
Adam, if you want to persist with the Lyon/CSKA comparisons go ahead, but the fact that Rangers appeared in a UEFA cup final says it all in terms of the 'European Trophy'. I wasn't making excuses (how many times) but merely saying i felt Robbo misjudged standards. Even without Benzema and Juninho (who was OLD) Lyon are a top team.
If you want to keep arguing, fine. I'd hope we could move on without this sort of thing, just admit Lyon are better than CSKA, but that isn't the only factor, and such.
Much as it pains me to say it, i feel we would have won last night if a quiet little Owen had come back over the summer. I don't like him, but he would have stuck Voro's chance away at least. Seeing as he was free, that is Rafa's fault, especially as he'd rather start Voro than Babel or N'Gog.
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Agree with 70 - Liverpool's squad just ain't good enough for the money that's been invested. And if their main men are out, well, they struggle as is being shown.
Rafa KNOWS that Torress WILL miss games, and he KNOWS that Stevy WILL miss games, they always do, every season. so why the over reliance?!
Sorry 'Beyone The Pale'. It' not even a critism, more a fact really. I think Spurs have probably got a better squad...
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
75. At 3:24pm on 05 Nov 2009, captainlazytim wrote:
"also, i don't know if this is a wierd year, but Liverpool have a tough group, especially given that some of our team are out, and the rest are rubbish."
no, the rest have been rubbish for quite a while.
As for a tough group, Fiorentina and Lyon are teams you'd expect one of the top four in England to be able to beat.
There are no excuses to be made. The squad players, as purchased by Benitez, are generally not up to the standard. Where they are, they are inconsistent (like Babel). You know something is bad when Lucas looked one of the better players.
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I am bamboozled as to why you would feel sorry for Rafa, given that yourself and the BBC football department have actively campaigned for his dismissal for years, despite (or perhaps because of) a record which stands up against, and in many cases surpasses, that of Ferguson and Wenger.
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The bBC feel sorry for Rafa as he would deprive them of manuy amusing headlines on a regular basis if he quit,
As for surpassing Fergies record - don't be daft.
CL Trophies/ Finals
Fergie 3, Rafa 2, Wenger 1
Premier League Titles
Fergie 11, Rafa 0, Wenger 3
FA Cup
Fergie 5, Rafa 1, Wenger 4
League Cup
Fergie 3, Rafa 0, Wenger 0
Community Shields
Fergie 7, Rafa 1, Wenger 4
World Club Cups
Fergie 2, Rafa 0, Wenger 0
So how uner any stretch of the imagination does benitez's record surpass Fergies and Wengers?
It doesn't as the trophy count proves.
Even post 2004 benitez has only won 3 trophies the Champions League, FA Cup and Community Shield whereas Fergie has won the Champions League, Premier League 3 times, the World Club Cup and the league cup twice so again Rafa's record does not surpass Fergies in any sense.
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77. At 3:26pm on 05 Nov 2009, CousinKev wrote:
This is way off base. That youth team that beat us in the LagerCup was brilliant, and if we could produce players like that we wouldn't be in this position in the first place.
79. At 3:27pm on 05 Nov 2009, PepeXabiBarnes wrote:
I have a problem with people expelling the virues of arsenal's passing play.
'Expelling the virtues...', classic
Yes, coverage is aimed at those who were unfortunate enough to suffer repeated heavy trauma to the brain, this is true
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64. At 3:13pm on 05 Nov 2009, BeyondThePale wrote:
I am bamboozled as to why you would feel sorry for Rafa, given that yourself and the BBC football department have actively campaigned for his dismissal for years
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The only Rafa campaign I am aware of is Gaz's
SAVE RAFA campaign.
But I don't get out much.
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Lyon have been definately a bigger team than CSKA in the last decade or so. Something like 9 domestic titles in a row until last season and progressing from the group stages nearly every year. Granted they never won a euro cup but they were never in it due to consistently being in the champions league knock out stages.
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"So how uner any stretch of the imagination does benitez's record surpass Fergies and Wengers?"
First 200 games in charge - win ratios
Benitez 57%
Wenger 55%
Ferguson 48%
To pick out trophies when one's been in charge 5 years and the other 23 years just proves the depths some will go to.
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78. At 3:27pm on 05 Nov 2009, RedBlueArmy92 wrote:
Can you ust breifly go over this, i dont pay particular attention to the coming and goings of liverpool, but i would swear he has spent more than this.
Probably cos you're bombarded by a media that is (and has been for years) extremely anti-Benitez - as evidenced by constant criticisms of his methods
e.g. Rotation (despite other top sides doing exactly the same thing), Zonal marking (despite it actually being very successful - though not this season, granted but the criticism kicks off every time we concede from a free-kick or a corner) and his purchases (despite all managers dropping clangers in the transfer market) - speaking of which i see Lucas/Voronin/Babel being cited as 3 on this very thread - combined price = same as a Nani, or a Reyes or just under half a Schevchenko.
Had Benitez/Martinez cooked up that story of 'beyond the pale' 'humiliation' that Allardyce & Ferguson came up with last season the reaction in the press would have been markedly different.
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85. At 3:36pm on 05 Nov 2009, adampsb wrote:
Rafa's record does not surpass Fergies in any sense.
If you wanna look at Benitez' first 5 seasons in England v Fergusons it does
bit unfair to list Ferguson's League titles but not Benitez' La Liga's too
but still - i wouldn't put Rafa ahead of Ferguson but in the last 5 years he certainly matches up to Wenger's achievements
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Tim
By what criteria are Lyon better?
Is it seasons in the Champions League, Domestic trophies or European trophies?
the first probably, the second abouty the same and the 3rd CSKA actually won the UEFA Cup and you weren't decrying it when Liverpool won it under Houlllier in 2001
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quality blog sir. however i take umbridge with the sympathy for rafa bit. he picked said donkey? correct?
personally i was as happy as a pig in fertilizer when his name creeped under p thompsons massive nose on sky sports when reading the team sheet. genius
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btw, Tim - Owen has missed some right sitters this season
his strength, as it has been throughout his career, is that missed chances never bother him. He could miss 5 in a row but his head never drops and he's just as likely to knock in the next chance. For that reason if he stays fit he'll score plenty at United
BUT he totally buggered Liverpool about twice and with his injury record Rafa was right not to go near him
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BTP and Tommy )
No titles in 5 years for Rafa
3 Titles in 5 years for Fergie
1 CL each and 1 cup each
Until Rafa wins the title he will not match up to Fergie. With Wenger yes, ferguson not a chance
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92. At 3:45pm on 05 Nov 2009, TommyOnion wrote:
but still - i wouldn't put Rafa ahead of Ferguson but in the last 5 years he certainly matches up to Wenger's achievements
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Totally agree.
Lets all laugh at Wenger at how his team is doing rubbish and how we would like to find someone better but cant afford to sack him and a sleaze as he is, he wont go himself.
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Spitfire I suspect some Irony there
Tommy - fair analysis about signing Owen although in hindsight maybe as would have been on a pay as you play it may have been a risk worth taking given Torres' unforseen injury problems in England.
Anyone thing think Steve Coppell or Alan Curbishley will be Hull's new manager if they lose on Sunday?
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Couldn't care less with comparisons. Benitez is as arrogant as they come, if it was Man Utd or even your own boro having all the bad luck he would be laughing and lapping it up.
I have to say I think this is going to turn into the Newcastle saga part 2. The slow demise of a once highly regarded manager as he twists and turns and comes up with nonsensical excuses for rubbish football and finally as his team slumps to outside the top 10 and with nothing to show, slinks away with his own truss for that hernia of a job that he just can't get out of.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inguinal_hernia
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Adam, no offense, but how do you know what i was saying in 2001? The UEFA will always be a smaller tournament that the CL. And not that it matters, but for all the great entertainment provided that year i wasn't giving it the big I AM, as the one thing that really matters to me is the league.
They have won more (or the same number) or titles in a more competitive league. They have been in the CL every year since 2001, so have the spending/wage power available. Over the past 2-3 years Russian football has improved, but not to the point where they can match Lyon, i reckon.
I'm not going to get anal and start quoting numbers, as i can;t be bothered to find them. If you disagree, then disagree.
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#67 Yes, I saw where he scored the goal from - the centre of the pitch. I'm not talking about on single incident, but the whole of the season. Babel has looked like a fish out of water, so why pay all that money for a player if you can't fit him into the system of play?
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93. At 3:46pm on 05 Nov 2009, adampsb wrote:
Tim
By what criteria are Lyon better?
Is it seasons in the Champions League, Domestic trophies or European trophies?
the first probably, the second abouty the same and the 3rd CSKA actually won the UEFA Cup and you weren't decrying it when Liverpool won it under Houlllier in 2001
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It depends over how long you are measuring it. Lyon have been unquestionably the better side over the last ten years anyway. They have regularly got to the quater finals of the champions league.
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97. At 3:49pm on 05 Nov 2009, Spitfire wrote:
Lets all laugh at Wenger at how his team is doing rubbish and how we would like to find someone better but cant afford to sack him and a sleaze as he is, he wont go himself.
That's the thing though - Arsenal play pretty football so Wenger is beyond the grief dished out to Benitez, yet Liverpool have finished ahead of Arsenal 3 times in Rafa's 5 years and won the Champions League & FA Cup to Wenger's solitary success in the FA Cup.
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fair comment. is it then that people find something eminently unlikeable about Benitez that leads them to give ewenger the benefit of the doubt and nnot rafa (other than transfer dealings)
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90. tommyonion
genius mate, exactly right
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104. At 3:55pm on 05 Nov 2009, TommyOnion wrote:
That's the thing though - Arsenal play pretty football so Wenger is beyond the grief dished out to Benitez, yet Liverpool have finished ahead of Arsenal 3 times in Rafa's 5 years and won the Champions League & FA Cup to Wenger's solitary success in the FA Cup.
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Well If you were trying to have kids but didnt manage, dont you wish at least the sex was good and you had fun while giving it a go?
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adampsb,
Possibly, although most Liverpool fans love Benitez.
It's probably just the prejudice dished out about Benitez in the media as he won't cozy up to them, coupled with the braindead like yourself who lap up whatever you're told to.
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Never mind all this inane jibbering about some manager who's lost a couple of games... its the FA cup first round this weekend! Cambridge United v Ilkeston Town anyone?! Won't find any glory supporters there thats for sure...
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What I did find amusing last night was the interview with Rafa before the game - the ITV numpty was practically shouting at him and Rafa answered his questions with a smile.
If Ferguson had been treated like that he'd have walked out - if he'd even given the interview at all.
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104. At 3:55pm on 05 Nov 2009, TommyOnion wrote:
That's the thing though - Arsenal play pretty football so Wenger is beyond the grief dished out to Benitez, yet Liverpool have finished ahead of Arsenal 3 times in Rafa's 5 years and won the Champions League & FA Cup to Wenger's solitary success in the FA Cup.
Tommy can't you see that during that time Wenger has been moulding his (young) squad and hardly spending any money and now it is all coming to fruition!! Benitez has built his squad during that time and now it looks awful!! as opposed to Arsenal.
I appreciate Wenger has only won 1 trophy in the last 5 years but all the work he has put into building this young squad could/should win something this year.
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98. At 3:52pm on 05 Nov 2009, adampsb wrote:
Tommy - fair analysis about signing Owen although in hindsight maybe as would have been on a pay as you play it may have been a risk worth taking given Torres' unforseen injury problems in Englan
and if Owen got injured Benitez would get hammered for buying an injury prone player
btw - was it ever confirmed Owen is on a pay-as-you-play deal? Be amazed if it's true.
102. At 3:54pm on 05 Nov 2009, NEARPOSTHEADER wrote:
#67 Yes, I saw where he scored the goal from - the centre of the pitch
or in actual fact playing on the left so he could cut in and hit it with his right...
I'm not sure Rafa is the best at man management but the Babel has to take some responsibility for his performances since he joined too. Hopefully last night will spur him on to bigger and better things.
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This week shows the difference between Rafa and Fergie.
Fergie goes all out for every win at all costs he knows every point counts if nothing else for morale 3-1 down he chucks Rooney and goes all out. Liverpool 3-1 down against Fulham Rafa takes off Torres, Kuyt and Benayoun and just gives up the pool will never win the title with Rafa for that reason remember Marchedas goals last year they gave the squad a massive lift and without those points we probly wouldnt have won the title
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BTP - why start insulting people -
I used facts and figures to support my argument and did not call you names so why start being rude - NO need at all.
Maybe he is disliked by the media as there are a lot of pundits from teh successful sides of the 70's & 80's who don't rate him.
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Agendas.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
BTP, needless insult to Adam, why?
Maybe Rafa is under more pressure due to the relative positions of the two clubs when he and Arsene took over, and the (often massively unrealistic) expectations of Liverpool fans.
I don't think there is a prejudice, but Rafa showed what was possible with (basically) this squad last year, so maybe puts pressure on himself in that way?
Finally, Wenger is a genius. Every football fan should realise that.
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112. At 4:03pm on 05 Nov 2009, TommyOnion wrote:
and if Owen got injured Benitez would get hammered for buying an injury prone player
btw - was it ever confirmed Owen is on a pay-as-you-play deal? Be amazed if it's true.
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What?
And he's not being lampooned for shelling out something between 10 and 20 mill on an Italian crock who's taken longer than expected to recover from an injury and three months into the season is STILL not match fit?
Should have had Owen and given him a go. He had nothing to lose by doing so.
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BTP - some of us have opinions that we keep to ourselves. We're called adults. I mean, i could decide i don't like you and spend my whole time thinking of ways to express it, but it would get in the way of the DISCUSSION ABOUT FOOTBALL
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God love you #109. A bit of normal life thrown into the mix.
AS for Beyond the Pale... BBC conspiracy against Benitez? Nobody told me that it was the BBC that bought a whole heap of average misfits and dressed them up in red for the enjoyment of the rest of the country!
(Oh s*** - I could've just described the Boro)
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I don't like Wenger, Fergie or Rafa... in time i won't like Carlo Anchovies either i suspect...
As an Aldershot fan i have an inbuilt dislike of winners! (well thats not true, as i am sure you all know what team have the record for most points in a Confrence season... yeah the Shots! Fergie ever won the Blue Square, has he b*ll*ks, don't have th minerals... nor Wenger, like to see him lift the Setanta shield)
Has Fergie ever beat 101 points?
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111. At 4:03pm on 05 Nov 2009, LABSAB9 wrote:
Tommy can't you see that during that time Wenger has been moulding his (young) squad and hardly spending any money and now it is all coming to fruition!! Benitez has built his squad during that time and now it looks awful!! as opposed to Arsenal.
I appreciate Wenger has only won 1 trophy in the last 5 years but all the work he has put into building this young squad could/should win something this year.
Arsenal fans have been saying the same for the past 5 years! I also thought our 2nd string gave a decent account of themselves against Arsenal's last week. I don't think the gap is all that, despite recent results.
I enjoy watching Arsenal play and good luck to them if they do produce a trophy or two this year but i think they're getting ahead of themselves at the moment.
113. At 4:03pm on 05 Nov 2009, rick6899 wrote:
This week shows the difference between Rafa and Fergie.
Fergie goes all out for every win at all costs he knows every point counts if nothing else for morale 3-1 down he chucks Rooney and goes all out.
And if Rooney was nursing a hernia that might be a valid comparison but he isn't so it's not.
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104. At 3:55pm on 05 Nov 2009, TommyOnion wrote
That's the thing though - Arsenal play pretty football so Wenger is beyond the grief dished out to Benitez, yet Liverpool have finished ahead of Arsenal 3 times in Rafa's 5 years and won the Champions League & FA Cup to Wenger's solitary success in the FA Cup.
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Your right Tommy, but on the other hand Wenger hasn't spent the money, net or otherwise, that RB has.Also Arsenal were in a transitional period and have moved into a new stadium and have also acquired state of the art facilities under AW's guidence without losing they're top 4 status.
I think people compare the 2 with this in mind, also the "future" of Arsenal, financely & squad wise (youth set up etc) seems alot "rosier" than that of L'pool at this moment. Although admitedly things in football and finance can change quickly.
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#107
Quite right too. To take it further, there's no point having a family of 12 if you have to put a bag over a head to enjoy it.
Course they won't win owt. But can't we just agree that Arsenal's football, potless or not, is currently a joy to behold and leave it at that.
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for the record, Adam, i do think we prefer in this country for our managers to explode, swear and storm off (who set that precedent?) for good entertainment, but Benitez is a bit too professional. Having said that, some of the criticism is justified in my eyes, just not all of it.
conversely, Fergie gets less criticism than he deserves, because he is arguably the most influential and successful man in Premiership history.
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BTP easy there. We understand that you are passionate but the name calling not called for, at least not on that level....
And Arsene is a genius but Fergie still rules :)
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I have said it before Liverpool lost tons of respect last season with Rafas antics at the end of the league insisting he had the better team. No before you all take it personally, I am not trying to wind up or insult anyone. Rafa is not a bloke that it is easy to respect or like, Most Non Man Utd seem to respect but not like Ferguson. Most non Arsenal fans can respect and perhaps even Like Wenger...( I bet his roast beef is full of blood and not a bit burned), But when it comes to Benetez, he seems to be arrogant without any reason. If you want to compare like with like. Compare only the last 5 years, Liverpool Chelsea Arsenal Man Utd, compare squads and number of players in and out. You will see Benetez clearly hasn't got what it takes. It's not an insult to say that, but it's pretty dumb not to be able to see it. Bring back Daglish I say.
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BTP - you have just proved yourself one.
Everyone else on here is making reasoned points, disagreeing politely and generally having a good debate. You then come on and start acting like an ASS.
If you want to debate fine. If you're just going to abuse people then do one. If you think I care if you like me then you're mistaken as you'll find there's enough people who don't like you in places anyway.
As it is I am indifferent to someone as insignificant as you.
Tim - perhaps that is the difference. Arsenal fans are patient and LFC fans are not as they were spoilt under Shankly, Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish. Houllier did well and with Rafa winning the CL early I guess they expected him to build on that and he has not been able to do so to the point that the Premier League title is possible. Last year was his big chance but Utd were able to step up a gear and see off the challenge and for one reason or another they are misfiring this season.
The FA cup is possible but I think Fiorentina have enough to secure qualification and LFC will have their hands full trying to see off Villa, Sunderland, Spurs, City and Fulham for the remaining European slots
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118. At 4:10pm on 05 Nov 2009, Starfire_995 wrote:
What?
And he's not being lampooned for shelling out something between 10 and 20 mill on an Italian crock who's taken longer than expected to recover from an injury and three months into the season is STILL not match fit?
that is a fair point, it is a valid criticism of Benitez (he claims the medics said he'd be OK by September) and one i've not heard too much - but then they've been too busy sticking the boot in elsewhere...
he was still right to steer clear of Owen, he's twice had the opportunity to play for Benitez and gone elsewhere for the money.
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Try to be as objective as I can.
I have to say, watching Arsenal last night was a delight, and I am saying this as a Utd fan. I hope Fergie hasn't written them off as title challengers because they are looking more than a tad tasty at the moment and, to be honest, are possibly playing the best football in europe at the moment.
Calling Lyon a power in europe is a joke, much as calling CSKA minnows. But the point is if Utd and Liverpool had swapped opponents, you would still have got the same feeling about each team. You do NOT count out Utd, where as at the moment Liverpool just look average. And Voronin? The only thing more comical than his football is the look on his face that permenantly says "where am I, where's the ball, I can't believe I lost it, how can I be this bad?!"
To Rafa. Yes he has his hands tied now, but let's be honest, this is a fairly recent development in his reign. And that said you can compare the purchases he has made with those of other managers of similiar value and see it just isn't good enough. Hughes has put together a better squad in 1 year than Rafa has in 5, and we're not talking the Adebayors, we're talking the Bellamy's who are waiting to back them up during injury crisis'.
And the players he has let go? I mean Alonso aside, which was a farce but also the guy clearly wanted to play for Madrid, how much better would Liverpool be doing now if they had Riise at left back? Or if he could have talked Hyppia into staying on a bit longer? If he had actually given Keane a chance or maybe played Crouchy a few more times to keep him sweet.
The longer he keeps his job at liverpool the longer I will be happy. And let's face it, if he doesn't get them through the group stages and fails for a top four finish, they won't be able to afford to get rid of him.
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Geez BTP and there was me thinking GazUTD and Denis were childish at times ....
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Tommy i watched the game last week and i totally agree it could have gone either way.
As for getting ahead of ourselves i disagree totally if you watched the post match interviews with Cesc & Wenger they both said we have achieved nothing yet and there is alot of hard work ahead!! however i think it is quite clear with the players Wenger has at his disposal (including the ones still to come back from injury Denilson, Walcott, Djourou) they are in a far better position now than at any point in the last 5 years to finally get some silverware.
The kids have grown up mate and learned from the bad times.
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107. At 3:59pm on 05 Nov 2009, Spitfire wrote:
Well If you were trying to have kids but didnt manage, dont you wish at least the sex was good and you had fun while giving it a go?
Istanbul was better than sex
well, three goals in 6 minutes meant it certainly lasted longer
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124. At 4:13pm on 05 Nov 2009, Robbo Robson wrote:
#107
Quite right too. To take it further, there's no point having a family of 12 if you have to put a bag over a head to enjoy it.
down south we have little rubber bags, Robbo. you can score all summer and only get an itch
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look rafa has had long enough to get it right and if he were at any other club he'd be long gone by now,can you imagine him in charge of arsenal,utd,chelsea having wasted so much money on average players with nothing to show for it he would of been shown the door long ago,liverpool have become so use to underachiving that they deem finishing second last year a success,as a utd fan i hope they give him a new 5 year deal because they will not win the league as long as he is in charge
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128. At 4:16pm on 05 Nov 2009, collie21 wrote:
I have said it before Liverpool lost tons of respect last season with Rafas antics at the end of the league insisting he had the better team
And when Wenger/Ferguson did exactly the same thing to each other?
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Robbo, per 127, be sure to respect yourself when you do that! That means don't put a bag over yer head I suppose!
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Adam, true
This is the QUESTION
If Rafa had already won the league, maybe three years ago, and gone undefeated for a year like Arsenal, would it be possible for him to get sacked. For my money he could sing 'Always Look on the Bright Side' at the next Hillsborough Memorial, and if he'd done the above folk would just say nothing, or that he is right, and it's about time we moved on.
As it is, i think the fans have been awesome in understanding the challenges he is facing, and not knee-jerking him off.
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133. At 4:18pm on 05 Nov 2009, LABSAB9 wrote:
As for getting ahead of ourselves i disagree totally if you watched the post match interviews with Cesc & Wenger
I didn't - i was too busy kicking the cat all over the living room
I've just heard a few 'we're gonna do this that blah blah blah' quotes from the direction of the Emirates lately, that's all.
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127............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................nah.........................................................................................................................................................he has aswell!
Well, i don't know what to make of that!
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Why are Liverpool using players that are clearly not fit, that is the whole point of a squad?? Torres, if he is nursing a hernia, should be rested, but he can't be because Liverpool's whole season relies on his shoulders (or more precisely, his boots).
Personally i think the way he is being treated at Liverpool is terrible -he should consider moving for the sake of his own career (how many young talents have been burned out through overuse by their clubs oer the years??).
As a contrast, had Spain used Torres like Benitez has used him the past few weeks, Rafa would be up in arms about it, saying he is not fit and should not be playing....
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Can you all PLEASE STOP arguing with BTP and Onion.
They are right, you are wrong.
Rafa is a genius.
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109. At 4:00pm on 05 Nov 2009, Westcountry_Boy wrote:
Never mind all this inane jibbering about some manager who's lost a couple of games... its the FA cup first round this weekend! Cambridge United v Ilkeston Town anyone?! Won't find any glory supporters there thats for sure...
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Don,t these games atract much larger crowds than other fixtures?#
Using this logic couldn´t the extra attendees corectly be termed as "glory supporters"?
#if not apologies.
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122. At 4:12pm on 05 Nov 2009, TommyOnion wrote:
And if Rooney was nursing a hernia that might be a valid comparison but he isn't so it's not.
Im not comparing Torres and Rooney im comparing the managers mindsets. Rafa gave up against Fulham and took his 3 best attacking players off to rest them for Lyon he took the loss and moved on Fergie pushes for every point no matter what.
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At 4:17pm on 05 Nov 2009, Starfire_995 wrote:
Geez BTP and there was me thinking GazUTD and Denis were childish at times ....
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OI!!
Yes I admint it but Denis really really really annoys me sometimes.
I won't do it again. Promise.
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131. At 4:17pm on 05 Nov 2009, indecident wrote:
. Hughes has put together a better squad in 1 year than Rafa has in 5,
but Rafa's spending is sell before you buy hence the high turnover of players as he tries to improve the squad (and make no mistake it's better now than the one he tool over) he's never been given £100m+ in a single transfer window
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Tim the answer to that is YES as Liverpool fand and ex-players have such high and often unrealistic expetations that it is like a millstone around the managers neck.
He shouldn't be if he had done that but he would be. Some of teh challenges he is facing are down to player recruitment which is his responsibility and definitely an area in which he could have done better in terms of retaining players (Anelka, Keane, Riise & Crouch come to mind not Bellamy as hittinga team-mate witha golf club is not on)
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RBA - FA Cup 1st round - a lot of the non-leaguers are at home which should make it fun. Gateshead, Stourbridge, Tooting & Paulton are all in with a good chance of progressing.
Bring it on
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TommyOnion, I am not attacking you mate, but sometimes in life, people are going to have an opinion different than yours. You are correcting everyone.....Ferguson and Wenger had right old ding dongs, whats that got to do with people not liking Benetez... Benetez gets paid millions to do what he does, and you are here defending him like he is your blood relation or something. Relax, just see what people are saying and try to come back with a reasoned argument instead of that 'well my dad said......' Benetez has produced nothing for Liverpool except one champions league win. At present Portsmouth have won more trophies in the last 4 years and how long did their manager have?
Just relax, you have great energy I am sure you could profit more by putting it into something useful other than defending the indefensible.
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As for the BBC conspiracy against Liverpool...
Hansen and Lawrenson on the BBC's premier TV footie programme.
Alan Green and Spoony presenting the BBC's premier radio footie programme.
Phil McNulty the BBC's CHIEF footie writer predicting a league win for Liverpool this season.
My goodness, such a conspiracy!
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Yeah GAZ UTD I reckon you are right mate.
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150. At 4:34pm on 05 Nov 2009, collie21 wrote:
TommyOnion, I am not attacking you mate, but sometimes in life, people are going to have an opinion different than yours. You are correcting everyone.....Ferguson and Wenger had right old ding dongs, whats that got to do with people not liking Benetez...
you said you lost respect for Rafa over something he did which was identical to something both Ferguson and Wenger did before
I was merely wondering if you were going to be consistent or, as i suspect, full of it ?
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collie - I think you'll find teh FA cup tucked in Benitez's cabinet - same trophy as Pompey won
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148. At 4:31pm on 05 Nov 2009, adampsb wrote:
He shouldn't be if he had done that but he would be. Some of teh challenges he is facing are down to player recruitment which is his responsibility and definitely an area in which he could have done better in terms of retaining players (Anelka, Keane, Riise & Crouch come to mind not Bellamy as hittinga team-mate witha golf club is not on)
Anelka ????? LOL! that's a classic, even for you !
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Btw I know fergies made a couple of bad sgnings over the years (Divid Bellion spings to mind) but Rafas are dreadful to say he hasnt been able to buy players is daft did you know hes singned 76 players in his time at the pool? not exactly got his hands tied there has he. He may of not been able to make huge signigns this summer but he did spend 18 mil on glen Glen Johson who I think is a good player but lets be honest hes not worth 18 mil
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154. At 4:41pm on 05 Nov 2009, adampsb wrote:
collie - I think you'll find teh FA cup tucked in Benitez's cabinet - same trophy as Pompey won
perhaps collie's Dad told him different?
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156. At 4:42pm on 05 Nov 2009, rick6899 wrote:
did you know hes singned 76 players in his time at the pool?
no, he hasn't
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149, were at home to bury who spakned us, at home, about 2 weeks ago, we have no manager as he is going to teach little en's at saints... So i don't have high hopes...
Bleeding mickey mouse cup anyway!
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Here are some of Rafa's favourite things, can you see what they have in common?
F ulham
A rsenal
C helsea
T ottenham
S underland
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I think with Rafa's outburst is that it was very Keegan-esque in it's timing and the emotional output as well. Yes Fergie & Wenger have had some right ding-dongs as did Mourinho with the voyeur comment and everyone thinks they have the prettiest wife swipe at Fergie.
It was maybe the setting and tone but rather than coming across as mind-games or banter it ws alsmost desperate leading a lot of people to think he was losing it. Interestingly Harry Redknapp is starting to show similar reactions as Rafa did last year as is Mark Hughes yet I don't hear the I lost respect refrains about them.
Yes the Rafa rant was ill-timed and over-emotional and not necessarily accurate but I would sooner judge him on his tarnsfer dealings and trophies than a couple of outbursts there and then.
It gives a contrast with the restraint shown during last night's post-match interview by ITV Fergie woudl have hairdryered him in about 5 seconds and heaven knows what Strachan or Keane would have come out with if they had been interviewed like that.
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mixed up Anleka's City time - I'll give you that
others are valid points though.
Although can't I just make it up and claim that Rafa could have gone back in time and signed Denis Law, Brian Clough and Billy Meredith just for a laugh and see if anyone buys it
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Well Tommy thats what I read cant remember exactley where think it was on one of the blogs on here but I defintaly read it somewhere so why dont you check before being arrogent and just dismissing it.
And Fergie and Wenger av a ad a few rows but they respect each other and both have sat down together and had a drink after the games Rafa just attacks Fergie thats why people lots respect for him last year before that I thought he was a good manager his team where top o the table at the time there was no need for it
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158. At 4:45pm on 05 Nov 2009, TommyOnion wrote:
156. At 4:42pm on 05 Nov 2009, rick6899 wrote:
did you know hes singned 76 players in his time at the pool?
no, he hasn't
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The Daily Mail begs to differ Tommy...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1221975/Rafa-Benitezs-229m-spending-spree-The-76-players-signed-Liverpool-managers-reign.html
So tell us all how the are wrong
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158.. thats right.. it was 75.3 (0.3 is lucas)
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He has bought and sold 104 players though in his time... So if it isn't 76 he has signed he has still been a very busy boy....
BTP... you'll verify my source, wont you?
http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=249365.0
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And on that bombshell...
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As a non-fan of all three teams:
1. Fergie is brilliant at winning. I would have thought all his annoying little ways would have blown up in his face but they've worked perfectly.
2. Wenger's something of a genius in terms of creating and training a team that plays brilliantly. But the tendency of his team to be unable to close the deal seems to reflect a manager who may not be as hard-headed as he should be.
3. Benitez isn't as good at winning as Fergie, or as good at creating and molding a brilliant team as Wenger. In fact, I'd rate him a bit below both overall. But he's still one of the best managers in football and likely to be better than his successor.
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Unless of course his successor is John Barnes.
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Liverpool will qualify under rule 118 sub para 19......if a team has won the Champions league 5 or more times in the last century AND finish third in their group games, then 'that' team will proceed to the next stage of the competition at the expense of the team with the lowest Eufa coefficient.
Don't think it could happen? Remember 2005?
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144.Holloway2Holland wrote:
109. At 4:00pm on 05 Nov 2009, Westcountry_Boy wrote:
Never mind all this inane jibbering about some manager who's lost a couple of games... its the FA cup first round this weekend! Cambridge United v Ilkeston Town anyone?! Won't find any glory supporters there thats for sure...
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Don,t these games atract much larger crowds than other fixtures?#
Using this logic couldn´t the extra attendees corectly be termed as "glory supporters"?
#if not apologies.
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Good point.
In my experience i find the first round ties are no better attended than a bog standard league game... I guess if they involved a *proper* minnow team there are people who just turn up to see them in the FA cup though.
It's when a lower league team gets drawn against a premiership/championship club, all the glory fans and "oh yes i've been a fan all along" people turn up! It's all good revenue for the smaller clubs though so shouldn't complain.
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So today's timeline is....
Some people say Rafa is useless.
BTP and Onion deny this and say these people are stupid.
Some people say Rafa is uselles with some points to back this up.
BTP and Onion say these people are stupid, there is a conspiracy and there are no points.
Some people point to respected websites with said points and facts even going so far as to use the website BTP said was gospel.
BTP and Onion exit stage right.
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Agree with the comment by Robbo and the poster who mentioned Tyldesley. He was awful. It bordered on a downright disrespectful dismissal of Lyon's ability. Certainly considering the evidence of the last fixture between those two clubs and the fact that Man United couldn't beat them at their home ground a couple of years ago.
I thought Liverpool were unlucky yes, but i thought either side had chances to win. and it was not nearly as one sided as itv or some liverpool fans would have you believe.
As for Babel. What a strike! But did you see his free kick right after? Out for a throw in. His oscillating form typified in about one minute of play.
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"If you wanna look at Benitez' first 5 seasons in England v Fergusons it does"
Stats are a wonderful thing. Where was the club when Sir Alex took over compared to Liverpool and Benitez? How much money did he have to spend in those first 5 seasons? How many world class players did he inherit?
You're trying to compare chalk and cheese.
And why is comparing the last 5 years of managership (or, lets say 3) unfair? The United team has been under a rebuilding programme, just like Liverpool, but one has done significantly better than the other.
Accept the purchase of Rooney to equate to Torres. You could fairly argue the rest of the purchases by Sir Alex were pretty much EACH better than those by Benitez, and few of them were bank breakers. For each of the large ones there's a corresponding one by Benitez.
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Gotta say - Rafa's mistake isn't putting Voronin on from the start... it's playing him altogether! Andriy Voronin - he was a free transfer, and it was still a rip off!
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GazUtd
That is absolutely spot on!!!
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I think the most damning thing for Bentiex yesterday, something I mentioned on the forum earlier but hasnt been picked up on, is the Torres substitution.
Cris man marked him through the game, Lyon came forward more after he went off because it freed up Cris to link between defence and attack.
The man bundling the ball through with the goalscroer for lyon was, as it happens, Cris.
For the sake of four minutes, just having Torres on the pitch was tying up one player, they may still have scored, but the man heading it on past the defence would not have been up there, thats for sure.
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Robbo's hit on something again. A spot of research suggests that Inguinal Hernia came about when a high tackle from behind displaced a portion of an intestine into his nut sack. The good news is that he has some brothers. Femoral and Umbilical are almost identical twins and have been compared to the DaSilva brothers at Man U in that the operation has a limited success rate. Epigastric is good when on his game but some reports suggest he's a choke artist, Ventral has been talked up but by some accounts it's a lot of hot air, Obtuator is a recognised shot-stopper and Hiatus Hernia, the youngest, often goes missing for long spells.
Look for a great influx of bench warming talent in January.
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Have you read the descriptive phrases on the link provided by RBA?
I paraphrase slightly but it goes something like this:
Players signed by Rafa:Great player,great signing,genius,what value for money etc. etc.
Players sold by Rafa:Moron,attitude was terrible,Houllier signing,pleased to get as much for the muppet as we did.
lovely balance there
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178. At 5:34pm on 05 Nov 2009, TrotterUSA wrote:
Look for a great influx of bench warming talent in January
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So long as the Norwegian Tord Hemeroid is not there, it should be a strong bench
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It's hard to feel sorry for Rafa considering the millions of pounds he has burned through in transfer fees - yet, still he wants more. This player-that player-this player-that player. He appears to buy players on spec, and if they don't work out, he blows them off and drops another bundle on the next hopeful. Is Aquilani another such project? Also, you can't really lose a backbone-of-your-team type of player like Alonso without properly replacing him. There doesn't seem to be any sort of consistent plan behind his activities.
P.S.: I reckon there's a League rule somewhere that prevents Cheryl from buying and naming St. James' after herself while hubby toils for a different League club!
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#171. Westcountry_Boy.
Cheers for that, I always found it strange that the smaller clubs could bring 20/30 thousand fans to a cup final, but their average gate was around 800/1500.
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179...this was the one that stood out to me Jacks...
"£6.3m - Fernando Morientes: Pretty much everyone made up when we signed him, top class, but never settled. Sold for £3m to Valencia."
"Top class"? It was clear to everyone after a couple of weeks that he was about division 1 class and that's being kind. He reminds me of our own Elmander in how useless they both are! I wouldn't use the "never settled" excuse, what's the point? Unless it's to present a biased view! Wy not just say he was cr@p so we got rid asap and felt very fortunate to get a few quid back?
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At 4:17pm on 05 Nov 2009, Starfire_995 wrote:
Geez BTP and there was me thinking GazUTD and Denis were childish at times ....
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OI!!
Yes I admint it but Denis really really really annoys me sometimes.
I won't do it again. Promise.
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I'm sorry to use you two as an example but (in the time I've been here anyway) you both at least draw the line somewhere before telling your oppo to up and up F themselves.
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H2H if TH is there, there'll be holes in the bench!
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love the FACTS by the way Gaz ;)
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Why Starfire, is that what BTP told Adam to go and do today?
I missed it before it was modded.
The FACTS are almost as good as BTP's and Onions disappearance. I hope they are ok.
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181. At 5:52pm on 05 Nov 2009, Rataxas wrote:
P.S.: I reckon there's a League rule somewhere that prevents Cheryl from buying and naming St. James' after herself while hubby toils for a different League club!
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O don't you worry about it. As things are going, the both wont be playing in the same League for some time.
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Morientes was regarded by all a steal for the price as he was regarded as one of the best strikers in Europe. Not much different from Sheva and look what happened with that. In the past couple of years Fergie hjas signed; Berba, Anderson and Nani so he has signed flopps too.
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Trotter, holes on the bench, doesn´t L´pool have that already?
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187. At 6:09pm on 05 Nov 2009, GazUtd wrote:
Why Starfire, is that what BTP told Adam to go and do today?
I missed it before it was modded.
The FACTS are almost as good as BTP's and Onions disappearance. I hope they are ok.
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Yup. He came up with ever so not so cunning plan of using '€' to replace the 'C'
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"Ryan Babel....still got loads of potential,but can't be arsed"
It's just a gift that keeps on giving.
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H2H,it's happened again.Quick F5 and wierd layout.
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1-0 to Fulham
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The weird layout thing is just a hangover from the changeover to the new website stuff.
You've clearly no experience of a computer programmer if you expected everything to actually work. :)
It will probably stop after a couple of weeks where the powers that be have been telling the programmers that there are bugs, the programmers have been denying it, then it will magically fix itself.
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Gaz,I still use a fountain pen,never mind understand computers!
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That's a bit posh!
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jacksofbuxton, those new fandangled fountain pens, wow, I´m just getting used to my quill.
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Chelsea consider selling Stamford Bridge naming rights!
And they all laughed at 'The Emirates Stadium'.
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Max, they all make bad signings, think we all agree on that. The point is that a Liverpool based summary of Liverpool signings gives a slightly different spin on things. Same would be true of any club's explanation/justification, not just Liverpool's. For me it doesn't matter much that net spend is relatively low, the worst aspect of it all is the revolving door which destabilizes a club just like it does a business. That's why it's key to make a good percentage of good signings.
The Morientes signing bears no comparison whatsoever with that of Sheva. The Morientes signing wasn't a steal, it was a sting!
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H2H,is that a dutch euphemism?
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Didn't say it worked out a steal, i was saying at the time of signing it was considered a steal. It compares to Sheva; 1. Striker of high CL pedigree (both had won Cl with Milan and Madrid, plus FM had returned to the final with Monoco) 2. Both did well for top teams and at the international level. 3. Both failed in the league.
My point was Rafa's bad signings are mentioned everyday but other mangers get a pass. lucas and Babbel have not lived up to potential but neither have Nani and Andeson at a fair clip more but that is not mentioned everyday (and yes i know man u are doing better but the point is don't use that to bash Benitez as a failure when someone you think can do no wrong does the same.)
Finally he should have a greater level of rotation since he is just building rather than re-building and how many of the 73 or whatever were youth players?
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H2H, no the holes are all in Blackburn according to the Beatles!
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It wasn't meant to be jacks´, but now you mention it............
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My point was Rafa's bad signings are mentioned everyday but other mangers get a pass.
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Other managers are not currently on the brink of having their season finish in November.
EVERY single day people are saying how useless Nani is and what a mistake Fergie made signing him.
Building rather than re-building? This doesn't even warrant a reply.
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Max, I think Rafa's bad signings get more of a mention because the perception is that he's made more of them. If Liverpool were winning everything I'm sure the bad signings that came and went wouldn't be highlighted so much because the ones still there would be good signings and we'd all be saying what a great team Rafa's put together! If he doesn't win sod all then he can't expect folks to give him a round of applause for signing rubbish.
Nani gets ripped here all the time. Fergie must see something that us punters don't but he picks his games and like some have said, he really has a squad to work with. Seems that the Mancs are warming to Anderson and Berbatov a bit. Chelsea and Arsenal both look strong, Wenger probably has the best signing success rate of all of them!
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203 Trotter, ups & downs, joy & pain, it's all in "A Day in the Life" of a football manager.
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oh look, Gaz and I agree again!
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GazUtd, Then why are you replying? How can you compare player turn-over for a manger in charge for his first 5 years to one in charge for donkey years. How about the youth player question, no repsonse to that? Season over in November based on whose assesment? Yours? If Pool get to the Cl 1/4 finals win the FA cup and finish 4 th this year (which are all still possible last i checked), is that not a good season?
Man U have won nothing yet and if they finsh the season without a trophy it doesn't matter when you think the season was over.
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"Man U have won nothing yet and if they finsh the season without a trophy it doesn't matter when you think the season was over."
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Can't argue with that logic.
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I said Liverpool were on the BRINK of their season being over in November. You need a miracle to continue in Europe. Have already lost 5 in the league. Out of the CC. If this isn't on the brink I don't know what is.
I said there was no point in replying to ONE POINT of your post. The building/re-building part. It is so completely stupid.
Here is the nub of the problem when arguing with most Scousers about Rafa...
They automatically reply with "Well Fergie has done this" etc etc.
That is not debating something, it is behaving like children. "Yes I threw the stone through the window but so did Johnny."
When someone says Rafa has done a bad job in 5 years it is about Rafa, it is not about comparing him to Fergie.
If you think that 2 trophies in 5 years (one's that matter, although whether the FA Cup does or not can be debated) is acceptable then that is ok. If you think the failure to win the league is acceptable then that is ok. If you think that at the end of his 5 years the current squad of players he has assembled is acceptable then that is ok.
These are the points being brought up, not well Fergie has done this etc etc.
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or Gaz, perhaps they accept subconsciously or otherwise that Fergie and his team is today's benchmark for the measurement of success? The admission is too painful to make because a fierce and relatively local rival is enjoying a period of success similar in dominance to that once enjoyed by themselves. It's simply a yearning for better days! A cry for help borne of a longing for a return to glory and the added meaning to life that comes with it, how the voids of life will be filled with success on the pitch. This feeling is more important to some than others, impacted by all sorts of factors that TommyB could best explain. However, it's all cyclical, we just don't know when the tide will turn and I suspect this to be the foundation of your Save Rafa campaign!
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I have watched all of Arsenal's games this year, from afar. They have been getting the results no one can argue with that and at times have played some great football but I think they have not been playing that well. They give the ball away far too many times for a top side and look pretty ordinary at times until they score. On top of that they have looked a bit fragile on occasions after going a couple of goals up.
I thought at the start of the year that Arsenal would have a good year but I don't see them winning the league or the Champions League Cup this year, maybe the FA Cup or the Carling Cup. As much as it pains me to say it, The PL looks like going to Chelsea with United taking second spot.
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147. At 4:29pm on 05 Nov 2009, TommyOnion wrote:
131. At 4:17pm on 05 Nov 2009, indecident wrote:
. Hughes has put together a better squad in 1 year than Rafa has in 5,
but Rafa's spending is sell before you buy hence the high turnover of players as he tries to improve the squad (and make no mistake it's better now than the one he tool over) he's never been given £100m+ in a single transfer window
You clearly ignored the bit I wrote about it not just being about the Adebayors and Tevez's, but City's second string, the Bellamy's etc (and no one can tell me Bellamy will be playing when all of Cruz, Adebayor, Robinho and Tevez are fit), that are better than Liverpools other players.
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"You clearly ignored the bit I wrote about it not just being about the Adebayors and Tevez's, but City's second string, the Bellamy's etc (and no one can tell me Bellamy will be playing when all of Cruz, Adebayor, Robinho and Tevez are fit), that are better than Liverpools other players."
Right, because Bellamy and the rest of the squad were bought for peanuts and don't have massive salaries. Great argument.
Fact is, Hughes has built his squad spending roughly in one year what Rafa has spent in 5, and that's just the gross spend.
Plus why wouldn't Bellamy play when the others are fit (most of them are now and he's playing), he's been better than all of them.
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I like the analogy Gaz, (211) and you're spot on AW & SAF are not the one's under scrutiny at this moment in time.
If they were in the same position ofcourse the media would jump on it just as hard, it comes with the territory I suppose.
Wengers methods and belief in his team was questioned in all quarters preseason and most so called experts predicted his downfall before a ball had been kicked.
SAF is the most succesful manager ever, naturally being an Arsenal fan it's my "duty" to dislike him, but his record is second to none and only a fool could dispute his achievements or not respect what he has done.
Both managers are as untouchable as you can get when you compare managers in the PL, and I can't see anyone else doing a better job for their respective clubs.
This in my humble opinion is the difference between them and Benitez.
Although I personaly believe that RB won't get the boot quite yet I do think that over the last few years with the money he has spent he may of got a little more out of the resources he's had at his disposal.
Some will argue that his net spend was not that high, but spending 17 mil on a defender, and over 70mil in one season is still a truck load of cash, and with that kind of spending it's only natural that expectations will be raised and failures will be highlighted
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"Some will argue that his net spend was not that high, but spending 17 mil on a defender, and over 70mil in one season is still a truck load of cash, and with that kind of spending it's only natural that expectations will be raised and failures will be highlighted"
Except he had to sell over 35mil of players the same window, and he got Torres, Mascherano, Babel, Benayoun, Lucas and Insua for a 35mil net spend. That's half our starting 11.
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Plus Skrtel.
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I am so tempted to point out said fool H2H, but I promised Starfire (or Sptfire, I always mix them up) I wouldn't :)
Believe it or not a few years ago there was something the same going on at United. Fergie was making terrible decisions and buying some rubbish.
Some people criticised him for it and in my opinion rightly so. Others said that if you criticised him you were a disgrace and not fit to support the club etc etc.
This is total rubbish. No one is immune to criticism and just because you do it does not mean you still don't like or respect the person.
The problem is that some people are so insecure that they feel they have to be called the 'real fans' and that what they say must be gospel. They completely fail to see any failings with anything to do with their club because they believe they won't be on their self appointed pedestal any more if they do.
All clubs have these type of fans, it just seems that there are more of them at Liverpool than other clubs.
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For the record at the minute I think Fergie is doing several things wrong. This is my opinion (and some other peoples) and by saying it it doesn't mean that I think Fergie should go, nor does it mean I support the club any less.
Blind faith leads to... well it leads to blowing yourself up among other things.
At the minute I believe Fergie has bought a muppet in Nani and should never play him again. I also believe he is mistakenly still putting faith in Paul Scholes for whatever reason. As great a servant as Scholes has been for the club he is now past it and things move on.
I think we should have bought better in the summer but I don't think there was anyone available at a sensible price.
Of course Fergie has made mistakes but he has also made Darren Fletcher a good player, something that I never thought would happen.
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CousinKev wrote
"Except he had to sell over 35mil of players the same window, and he got Torres, Mascherano, Babel, Benayoun, Lucas and Insua for a 35mil net spend. That's half our starting 11. Plus Skrtel.
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That's the whole point, according to some of your fellow fans some of those players just arent good enough.
Preseason AW sold players for 40mil and bought in for 10mil, see the difference?
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Gaz I think you are pretty well right in what you say there up to the last sentence. I think you, like most United fans, have an unhealthy predisposition towards LFC.
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Gaz, with a name like Nani, you'd half expect him to be in a movie with Kermit and Fozzie.
And ofcourse noone is above criticism, it's just that over the years SAF & AW have built up more than enough credit to be sometimes given the benifit of the doubt concerning their decisions
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You don't think Darren Fletcher is a good player Bojangles? Or were you referring to the previous post :)
Yes of course we want to see Pool do badly. Obviously. That is what football is all about. Anyone who says they don't want to see their biggest rivals do badly is a liar.
We had to put up with an unbelievable amount of guff in the 80s from Pool fans so now it is time to give it back. Make hay while the sun shines because like it or not some day it will all turn around again.
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The latest coming out of OT H2H is that maybe if we put a pony tail on Nani we can sell him to Rafa
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I wont disagree with you there. It most likely accounts for my, at times... only at times mind you, illogical dislike of United.
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I am constantly amazed at little attention paid to the most consumate team of the moment in England-Chelsea, and its most ferocious striker Drogba.
I pity Rafa cos most of his problems at the moment are just ill luck.
How many times will we see Arsenal in this form? The most important thing is really depth when it matters most, towards the last 2-3 months to the end of Season, here I'm afraid Arsenal has not lived quite to it's billing in the past 5 years.
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At 8:51pm on 05 Nov 2009, BojanglesOfOz wrote:
I wont disagree with you there. It most likely accounts for my, at times... only at times mind you, illogical dislike of United.
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The first step to getting better is to admit you have a problem :)
Of course there is illogical dislikes in football, at its heart supporting a team is compulsive behaviour and being compulsive is inherently illogical.
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As a Liverpool fan can I make some points
1) Re our club the biggest problem is the owners not Rafa.
2) Contrary to popular myth Rafa has not spent loads and he is resticted by said onwers - with a free reign we would have Barry, Alves, Silva and several other good players. We would not have had Keane - who was very poor whenever he played - sadly as I wanted him to succeed.
3) Our first choice team imo is Reina, Johnson, Carra, Agger, Aurelio, Yossi, Stevie, Aquilani, Masch, Reira, Torres which i think is a good team and there are many other decent players not included there - Lucas, Skrtel, Insua, Ngog, Kuyt, Degen - all internationals - all this talk about the poor squad is not accurate - we gave Arsenal a good match at the Emirates last week with our back up squad so it can't be too bad. Maybe we need back up for Torres I will defo admit that and yes there have been bad buys (Dossena, Kyriakos, how come we only had 2 million to buy a defender when the Xabi and Arbeloa sale had brought in more than we spent - answer = the owners!!, Keane, Babel - whose attitude has stunk for ages - I was gob smacked when I saw him score that goal last night!!, probably Voronin but he is not as bad as made out and is an easy scapegoat and maybe others too - the squad is too big) but overall Rafa has done OK in the market.
4) Due to the fact that Rafa is maybe not the kind of person who sees being popular as important he has not bowed down to the media (with their agenda driven simplified post match questions) and the LMA so he probably has no big friends in the papers or among the other managers. It does not bother him = maybe it should but it doesn't.
5) In the 5 seasons he has been at the club he has achieved more points in total than Arsenal - now I am not saying he is a better manager than Wenger who is clearly a great manager but fact is that his press and Wengers are very different and yet Rafa has the superior record - strange that. IMO it is mainly cos of (4) above.
6) Last season we did not lose in the league to the other top 4 teams doing the double over both Chelsea and Man U so we can't be too bad can we and have deservedly beaten Man U in the last 3 games - with Vidic their so called quality centre back being sent off in 3 consecutive matches V us
7) I have an intense dislike for Ferguson but for non football reasons mainly - nobody could dispute his success on the pitch with MUFC but his bullying manner and lack of sportsmanship is obvious to anybody with a fair mind. What Roberto Martinez said recently was interesting and I feel that he was then leant on by the LMA and Fergie loving mafia (Alladyce, Bruce, even Dave Whelan to an extent) to withdraw his comments. Never was Rafa more right than what he said about Ferguson and the lack of back up from other managers was very disappointing as everyone knows he was right - ex refs, journos, ex players, ...etc - tell you what why don't the BBC ask SAF about his views? - or sorry he does not speak to the national broadcaster does he cos they dared to say things against him several years ago.
There is more I could say but that should be enough to be going on with!!
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Well Gaz, if Rafa don't bite, SAF could give Ronaldo a call and convince him to tell the Real board that he misses his mate and that they should make an offer for him.
If all else fails Mark Hughes is always in the market for an overhyped waste of money, you'd probably get 35mil for him
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Now that that is cleared up, does that mean I can go back to slagging off Ferguson without others on this blog telling me how illogical it is to do so? Or should I get their approval first? Yeah I think I should do the latter.
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Happy 4 the special one last night, as Chevi did not have last laugh over him.
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Nah you can slag him off BoJangles but just expect someone to leap to his defence and point out that maybe he is not alone.
I don't even know where to start with that post at #229.
So now as well as the BBC conspiracy there is a LMA/Fergie/Big Sam conspiracy as well??
Good Lord, they'll be telling us Fergie shot Kennedy next.
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If Torres and Gerrard were both fit. Liverpool would be top of the league atm. But we don't have cover, that's our problem. And they WILL be out several times a year. Sure, we don't have African players to go out for the African Nations cup but we have them absent for the groin and hamstring cup.
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OnyiChelsea
Admitedly your team are doing well at the moment, but they haven't really been tested yet, but have still lost to Villa and Wigan.
It's also a bit ironic saying Arsenal have underachieved when your mob has spent the gross income of a medium sized country yet failed to win the PL in a number of years.
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234.thehonorarytitle
If Arsenal had more points than Utd last year they would of won the league. ;)
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Good Lord, they'll be telling us Fergie shot Kennedy next.
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He didn't do the deed himself but he did put up the money so I'm told.
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236. Holloway2Holland,
Yes, yes. I'm not going to pretend your wrong, because you're not. I live in reality, and Liverpool look terrible. But you can't deny that loosing Torres and Gerrard constantly unbalances the team.
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I've figured out the BBC conspiracy against Liverpool....
Fergie doesn't speak to the BBC any more so what they have cunningly done is employ a load of ex-Liverpool players, a load more Liverpool fans, and had their supposed unbiased pundits and writers predict a Liverpool league win this year.
Like a fox they have done all this just to appear to like Liverpool when in fact they are trying to bring them down by questioning Rafa.
All to get Fergie to speak to them again.
Genius.
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The way their lank-haired keeper Romero (presumably named after Batman actor Cesar Romero, who played The Joker) fell over Fabregas's trundler for Arsenal's opener was atrocious
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That is the understatement of the year. Even "Calamity" could have saved that and made it look easy at the same time. Taking nothing away from Arsenal, they did deserve the win but AZ made them look a lot better than they were.
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Say for a moment that Rooney and Ronaldo would equal Gerrard and Torres.
(One a diver and one a nancy boy, so not as far fetched as you think)
Anyway say they are equal.
Well last year Rooney and Ronaldo were both missing for a couple of months. Gerrard and Torres were not.
United won the league and got to the final of the CL.
Liverpool won nothing.
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239.GazUtd
That made no sense at all. It was a miserable attempt at being clever. It wasn't in the least funny or intelligent
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So Gaz are you saying Big Sam and SAF and their ridiculous comments after the BRFC V LFC match made sense? - incredible!!
Or were my eyes deceiving me when I saw SAF effing and jeffing to Mike Dean the fourth official in the Sunderland Man U game recently. Never mind his unfit ref comments after the game. The same MD made Wenger go to the stand after kicking a bottle - SAF can swear in his face???
No mate I am fair - I have said that SAF is a good manager but as a man he is a disgrace and I would be able to give MUFC fans just a bit more respect if just some of you for once could admit that.
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238 thehonorarytitle
Sorry mate I couldn't resist the "if" arguement.
Of course any team would miss those two world class players.
239 Gaz,
A plan so cunning they could brush their teeth with it.
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First of all i'm not English. 2. You become the manager of a company then you have to have a higher staff rotation as you get your new staff members in a nd get rid of the people you got the company with. 3. If you are however just re-structuring (re-building) then you will need to turn-over less staff, since everybody employed would have beenn selected by you. Hence Rafa must buy and sell more players. (Didn't think i needed to be that detailed but i guess you're thick). Alot of those players were also youth players.
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Fergie doesn't speak to the BBC any more...
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It is a shame we don't get BBC down here, we get our football feeds from Sky and unfortunately there is no problem with Ferguson and Sky
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Hold on a minute cracker, the earlier post said that there was pressure put on Martinez to retract his comments.
That was what I was pointing out was ridiculous. Stop twisting things.
For you to say that "as a man SAF is a disgrace" is something that I will not accept in a million years. He is no saint but who is. What you said was just plain ignorant.
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They must have employed the professor of cunning H2H.
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248. GazUtd,
The more you type, the less I like you. Nothing personal.
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I won't lose any sleep over it.
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Methinks Gaz has a couple of new fans
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The gift that keeps on giving.
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Why is it that every time an arguement seems to be going against some people they resort to personal abuse.
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Is it just me or are others having problems with the refresh button?
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At 9:50pm on 05 Nov 2009, BojanglesOfOz wrote:
Why is it that every time an arguement seems to be going against some people they resort to personal abuse.
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The affore-mentioned insecurity.
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253 BojanglesOfOz
It is indeed sad, I'm all for the banter and a friendly rip now and then, but the abuse is uncalled for and the refuge of the weak of character, I'm not saying this with intent to offend, just to promote more civilised reactions.
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Well I believe it is very likely that there was pressure put on Martinez - by Dave Whelan perhaps as much as anyone as he is a known friend of Ferguson as well as certain 'Fergie fans' among managers of which there are many). And I suppose Maritnez would be very foolish to upset his chairman - but I suppose we will never know will we. I cannot prove it but for you to assert it is ridiculous for me to believe that flies in the face of likelihood knowing what we do about the people involved. In some ways maybe the LMA are right - it is unbecoming for their members to talk like that about each other but all Martinez did in his original comments was give an honest answer to a question posed to him by a Spanish journalist. Probably he was naive to do so but that was borne out of inexperience of how it is - he needs to learn the unsaid rules of English football management that you cannot criticise Sir Fergie!!
For myself I have read 2 long well researched books about Ferguson ('The Boss' and 'Second is Nothing' or words to that effect) as well as several books written by ex refs and they are all consistent in what they say about him and it is not nice reading - thats all I can say. TRy reading them yourself and you'd find out.
As a LFC fan tho I do worry at times that Rafa does not help himself as he will not 'cosy up' to these type of people or the people who go on the likes of Sunday Supplement on Sky - which often is very anti Liverpool with half truths (at best) put out as facts but I guess he is comfortable enough knowing that he is loved within our club (which he largely is). He will do 'in depth' sort of interviews for the Spanish media ...etc but he is not that into the shallow coverage of our tabloids so does not talk to or like them much and so at times they can slaughter him.
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I suppose next you'll be claiming that it was the tabloid reporters that bought Voronin et al.
Those same tabloids have, to be fair, been pretty critical of SAF and his comments so far this season, on the subject of Alan Wiley and such.
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I realise there are areas which I mean to comment on which I haven't yet so here goes with another post.
The 2009/10 season does not look good - we'd be foolish to say otherwise - and some of the displays have been poor - Villa, Sunderland, Fiorentina in particular and Lyon at home to an extent. But we may stay in the CL - not likely but we may, we are one point behind 4th in the PL despite our 5 defeats so we are not out of that yet contrary to popular opinion - 9 behind Chelsea but if they are MU draw and we win V Bham then that is only 7 points with Chelsea still to come to Anfield. Now of course I am not saying we will win the PL this season - but we are not out of it yet by any means.
Sacking the manager now? - no chance - that is the way THFC MCFC even Chelsea do it but not us - Man U Arsenal and ourselves who over the years you could argue have been the best 3 teams opt for stability in their manager. Maybe we will reassess next summer but you see LFC these days has 'Rafa' written all over it with so many coaching and other staff and players brought in by him that to change would lead to a massive upheaval and that is something which should not be undertaken hastily.
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259 alcracker, a honest and intellegent assessment of L'pool's season so far, as I've previously posted, I too believe RB will be there for a while yet.
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245 Max, Ok, let's work on your assumption that I'm thick...why would somebody taking over a new business hire new people and get rid of those very same people unless bad hiring decisions had been made in the first place?
I can understand one or two might not have been up to par or that the 'agency' had sold 'em high but eventually one has to look at the whole recruitment policy as being possibly flawed, no? If that's not the problem then it might have something to do with the guy running the show not being able to organize his staff into whatever it was that he wanted them to be in the first place. Go on, explain it to me again, what am I missing? Staff turn-over is expensive, disenchanting and disruptive, especially when it doesn't bring about the desired results of increased success and revenue. These unsettling effects are compounded when the excuse for the absence of success then becomes the restriction on hiring!
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If there is one word to describe Liverpool's woes it is mismanagement. From the owners through to Rafa himself. If they don't sort things out soon, not only will they achieve nothing this season but they could face even darker times in ensuing seasons.
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Go easy on him Trotter, he's not English. ;p
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H2H, yeah, I don't know why he slipped that in, you wouldn't hear Torres or Ronaldo using that line! Besides that, although I'm not French, they never went easy on me!
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Nick Griffin would be proud of this thread.
Were it not full of foreigners.
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although I'm not French, they never went easy on me!
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I wouldn't take that personally Trotter, the French tend to treat everyone with disdain.
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They bent over backwards for the Germans.
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They bent over backwards for the Germans
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We are not discussing the French's sexual preferences here. This is a football blog
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Boangles, thanks for your reassurance, I feel better about it now.
BTP, we can alwasy count on you....how's that woman across the Street doing?
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Trotter,
There was no such woman.
I made it up.
It was an irreverant comment.
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266. At 10:43pm on 05 Nov 2009, BojanglesOfOz wrote
I wouldn't take that personally Trotter, the French tend to treat everyone with disdain
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Disdain, didn't that guy play for Newcastle and Portsmouth?
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Did we not have this Benitez bashing blog two weeks ago before the Manure game? Yawn........must be a slow month in Middlesborough.......
With reference to the content of the blog;
I would not support Arsenal if they were the last team on earth, oh and by the way I don't support Spurs either.
As for names how about - You have never been a big club @ St James Park
A special thanks to the BBC for choosing this moment in time to migrate our accounts and make us re-register, I actually had nothing else to do this evening.............
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270. At 10:50pm on 05 Nov 2009, BeyondThePale wrote
It was an irreverant comment
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BTP, How could you? And on this blog of all places!
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BTP, thanks for clearing that up! Should have known she was too good to be true!
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I know.
(I apologise for my earlier profanities - as factually accurate as I was, the BBC is no place for such outbursts.)
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I haven't been at all well.
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I blame Lucas.
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I had better stop making these French generalisations in case this site is being monitored by DGSE. I want to go to Calais next year.
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Here's hoping you get well soon.
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And I sincerely apologise to adam.
I didn't mean it, mate.
I just wish, just for a little while, people would be a bit fairer to Rafa, is all.
I notice some people, Gary included, have been a little fairer to Benitez in what is being portrayed as his hour of need.
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hilarious but understandable! However, if your mood is linked to Lucas' performance, you are codependent and need to arrange to see a shrink as soon as possible. Preferably with Luvas.
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I apologise for my earlier profanities - as factually accurate as I was
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Was that an apology... lol
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sorry. LuCas
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Cheers H2H.
On the plus side, it's got rid of a stone of weight which I wouldn't have got shot of otherwise.
That made-up woman over the road might want to look in my window now.
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277, And I thought Lucus-ade aides recovery.
Me & my coat have left the building.
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Trotter,
Having spent time in a 'special place for special people' a few years back for 'that sort of thing', it's something I can look back at and have a chuckle at.
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At 10:59pm on 05 Nov 2009, BojanglesOfOz wrote:
I apologise for my earlier profanities - as factually accurate as I was
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Was that an apology... lol
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Well a type of one anyway...
"I am sorry for calling you a ****. You are a ****, but I am sorry for calling you one."
?
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249. At 9:43pm on 05 Nov 2009, thehonorarytitle wrote:
248. GazUtd,
The more you type, the less I like you. Nothing personal.
Very disappointing! The moment you used the personal pronoun you made it personal. To then add "Nothing personal" makes the post at best contradictory and at worst hypocritical.
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At 11:01pm on 05 Nov 2009, BeyondThePale wrote:
Trotter,
Having spent time in a 'special place for special people' a few years back for 'that sort of thing', it's something I can look back at and have a chuckle at.
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You haven't been to Anfield in a few years?
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Good lad, so you conquered your demons!
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Fair enough
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Worse than that - Stadium Of Light three weeks ago.
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The only demons I have are invisbile women over the road and the legacy of Graeme Souness.
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#288. redpreacherman,
It's something called sarcasm. Sarcasm is so ubiquitous these days.
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oh dear, that's funny. did you get a picture with the beach ball?
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This place is bringing back memories of my years spent in analysis. Can we get back to slagging each other off please.
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At 11:07pm on 05 Nov 2009, thehonorarytitle wrote:
#288. redpreacherman,
It's something called sarcasm. Sarcasm is so ubiquitous these days.
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This is something called the "I was only being sarcastic" defence. Which is being used more and more these days when someone is caught out insulting someone.
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At 11:09pm on 05 Nov 2009, BojanglesOfOz wrote:
This place is bringing back memories of my years spent in analysis. Can we get back to slagging each other off please.
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Ok.
You Arsenal loving tw*t.
I'm going to have to tell my therapist about that now, I hope you are happy.
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If I can't resolve this refresh problem soon I may require the services of an analyst. Anyone else having problems?
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Hello Ladies,
who are we bashing at the moment?
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Where we were sat, simply didn't see it - we had no idea why Reina was going ape with the ref until MOTD Sunday morning.
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Bojangles, it's only insulting between 9 and 5 when the kids and the wife aren't looking.
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I am always happy if I can send a United fan to a therapist.
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what, you went all the way to Sunderland and got a seat without a view of the goal? Did you stay on the bus?
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Welcome, Bojangles, nice to see another foreigner leeching off the British licence fee payer.
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BBC have made a right old Terminal 5 out of the system update havent they?
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294
Indeed it is and never more so than on this blog. However, if the grammar is poor then sarcasm can look uncommonly like a personal attack
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Trotter, as a well-known OOT of long repute, you should know it's only 7 miles away from me.
Come, now.
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BojanglesOfOz, I'm having a lot of bother with it too, the F5 is not exactly refreshing, kind of like Lucasade.
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Locusade?... That is a Liverpool invention I would imagine.
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Gaz
Consider yourself well slagged!
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Who are these new people, anyway?
This isn't right.
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Refer to my earlier explanation of the refresh problems where I did my best to insult computer programmers.
They deserve it even more than Liverpool fans.
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311. At 11:18pm on 05 Nov 2009, redpreacherman wrote:
Gaz
Consider yourself well slagged!
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Why does he get all the loose women?
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I thought you were in Liverpool?
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At 11:18pm on 05 Nov 2009, redpreacherman wrote:
Gaz
Consider yourself well slagged!
---
Sounds kinky.
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But if I can decipher the information on the poorly and incompletely refreshed page correctly, we'll be able to follow the comments on the blog via RSS.
That means, no need to actually open an extra window for it and that in turns mean no need to make an effort to hide it among other loosely work related programs.
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I thought you were in Liverpool?
---------------------------------------------
Was that addressed to me?
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Gaz, we'll call that one a draw.
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Bo, no, sorry, it was a dialogue with BTP.
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It's nice to see that the Chuckle Brothers are being ably employed by the BBC.
They've done a cracking job already on Radio 1.
Thank God they're now turning their attentions to the web.
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Or a threesome H2H
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Bojangles I'm now using the refresh button at the top of the page. It's still not perfect but seems to be an improvement on F5.
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Where is ChuckleBrother?
I miss him.
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BojanglesOfOz, I'm having a lot of bother with it too, the F5 is not exactly refreshing
Refer to my earlier explanation of the refresh problems where I did my best
to insult computer programmers.
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It is a great comfort to know that you are not suffering alone.
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305. At 11:14pm on 05 Nov 2009, BeyondThePale wrote:
Welcome, Bojangles, nice to see another foreigner leeching off the British licence fee payer.
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Well have you ever visited BBC-Online once you are abroad?
The amount of advertisement will lead you to believe that it was a purely private organisation. And take into account the global readership and you will conclude that our Licence fee isnt the only source whats keeping the beeb running.
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Preacher I hate to tell you this but the button and F5 do exactly the same thing.
Just keep hitting F5 and it works after the 3rd time or so.
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323 ,preach, It makes no difference I'm afraid.
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BBC Online outside the UK is paid for by advertising.
For some reason the main ad used to always be for Rolex watches.
They must think the only people accessing it are ex-pats with loads of money.
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Bojangles I'm now using the refresh button at the top of the page. It's still not perfect but seems to be an improvement on F5.
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I have been using the refresh button all along. I am having to hit the back button then come back in from the main page.
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330. At 11:27pm on 05 Nov 2009, BojanglesOfOz wrote:
Bojangles I'm now using the refresh button at the top of the page. It's still not perfect but seems to be an improvement on F5.
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I have been using the refresh button all along. I am having to hit the back button then come back in from the main page.
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For the first time in my life I'm using the f5 button, thanks lads, what do the other "f" buttons do?
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BBC Online outside the UK is paid for by advertising,
Over her all the ads are in Dutch on this site, sounds weird eh?
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They must think the only people accessing it are ex-pats with loads of money.
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I cant speak for H2H and Trotter but they sure missed the boat with me.
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I used the F button earlier.
Didn't go down well.
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Gaz
H2H
I almost typed s*agged. Could that be considered a Pavlovian response?
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331 Trotter, I'm F'd if I know
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does the * represent an L or an H? (or a W?)
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thanks H2, I'll know not to involve you in my ignorance again!
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At 11:28pm on 05 Nov 2009, TrotterUSA wrote:
For the first time in my life I'm using the f5 button, thanks lads, what do the other "f" buttons do?
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Pretty much nothing, a hangover from the first computers.
F1 is usually Help
F2 is usually Rename
F3 is usually Search
F4 in Iexplorer will bring down a list of your history
The rest are pretty useless.
You can combine Alt and Ctrl with them, eg AltF5 closes the window I think.
But who needs them. Well if you cant use the mouse there is always a keystroke for everything.
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blimey, thanks Gaz.
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what do the other "f" buttons do?
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You can play around with any of the F(unction) buttons... just leave the F8 keyalone, it causes you to take on happier better disposition towards United fans... Just another devious Fergie masterminded ploy.
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At 11:30pm on 05 Nov 2009, redpreacherman wrote:
Gaz
H2H
I almost typed s*agged. Could that be considered a Pavlovian response?
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Theres pavlova?
Great.
Any cheesecake?
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335, 'preach', did this Pavlov geezer play against Man Utd this week?
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337
Trotter the choice is yours, but if push comes to shove * could also represent "T"
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well, it's impossible to choose preacher without knowing what's the before and after!
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OK I've had enough of this. It's getting worse, now untyped words are being inserted into my comments. I am out of here.
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Trotter, F11 makes your screen bigger, and I found out (accidently) that if you press Ctrl and n at the same time you get a new internet screen.
That's the full extent of my computer knowledge.
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H2H, how do I make it smaller again?
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F11 again
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F11 again.
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CTRL & +/- makes your text bigger/smaller.
For the olds.
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brilliant, thanks lads
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Well I have had it lads.
H2H and BTP saying exactly the same thing.
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Seeing as we have turned into a computer class...
Did you know if you want to go to for example http://www.microsoft.com all you have to do is type in microsoft and press Ctrl-Enter and it inserts the rest.
Only works for .com though.
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Well I have had it lads.
H2H and BTP saying exactly the same thing.
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Trotter I'm not sure I want to go further down the conditioning and response route so I'll change the subject and say to H2H I spent the last 9 years of my working teaching IT to prisoners in a Cat B high security prison and I still don't know what's going wrong tonight.
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Wow, I've actually learned quite a lot too, now a little improvement in my typing and I can upgrade myself to semi computer-illiterate.
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Sorry should have included life between working and teaching
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355. At 11:47pm on 05 Nov 2009, TrotterUSA wrote:
Well I have had it lads.
H2H and BTP saying exactly the same thing.
----------------------------------------------------
WOAH!
How did you do that Trotts? Its like we were separated at birth.
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hmmm, it all seems to be working fine here. Robbo'll probably pop in before bed and sort it all out for you.
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A handy one to know, if your PC is taking an age to start up, is START/RUN/msconfig and then you can turn off all the crap you don't want to open on startup.
Speeds things up a treat.
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it was a gomputer clictch spit!
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BTP, that's brilliant, a bloke at work told me that and it made a heck of a difference.
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360 Trotter, He does usually pop in around this time, do the pubs still close around 11 in the UK?
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Aye, it couldn't cope with such erudite conversation.
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You can also type in Start>Run>Cmd
Then Format C:
That makes everything better :)
(Note don't actually do this unless you think Rafa is a genius)
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At 11:56pm on 05 Nov 2009, Holloway2Holland wrote:
360 Trotter, He does usually pop in around this time, do the pubs still close around 11 in the UK?
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Yes, here too.
Our wonderful leaders have decided that we are not capable of looking after ourselves after this.
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358. At 11:51pm on 05 Nov 2009, redpreacherman wrote:
Sorry should have included life between working and teaching
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Was that your sentence.;)
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Gary.
Bad man.
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H2H, I dunno, I'm not there and when I am I'm not in the pubs at 11 pm.
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I sometimes thought it was but they gave me a key so I could get in and out.
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Gaz, don't give me loads of good suggestions that I eagerly try and put into practice and then one that might wipe me off the planet! It's not easy being techno-challenged and gullible!
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Don't press 9 and 11 at the same time, though - I did and my 2 towers went pop.
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366 Gaz, what does that actually do?
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H2H,
You're kidding, surely.
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Afraid not.
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It formats your hard drive and wipes everything you have.
Don't do it.
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Lol
Wipes your hard disk H2H
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this is too much...Robbo's Thursday night computer class!
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ALT/F4 is always a good one.
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ok that does it, I'll use f5 but better never to mess with the other F's
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OK, Cheers lads, nice party trick, I'll have to remember that one for if I'm ever in the office of someone who has p'd me off.
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381 Trotter, I'm always careful too, as the old saying goes, curiosity killed the computer.
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yes indeed, if it didn't already, it one day will.
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Liverpool were unlucky against Lyon, however you cant say the same in many of the games that they have lost recently. They have been poor and it seems that sometimes when a team isnt playing well they dont seem to get any luck either.
....However, I still firmly believe that Liverpool can perform heroics once more in the Champions league and get the results they need. I fancy Lyon to at least get a draw with Fiorentina and Liverpool CAN win both their remaining games.
Although I believe that this is possible, Liverpool are in dire straights at the moment. There simply isnt the strength in depth. They need to somehow dig deep and produce money to go and spend on another forward or even 2, unfortunately it doesnt seem that this is very realistic at the moment.
I think that Liverpool should stick with Rafa but someone needs to help him when making substitutions as he clearly isnt capable of doing this on his own, as has been proved in recent weeks. I am a firm believer that he has the man management skills and tactical knowledge but some of his decision making is unbelievably bad (Taking off Benayoun against Fulham for an un heard of youngster, starting Voronin against Lyon, to name a few).
Other than that, as much as it pains me to say (as a liverpool fan), Chelsea will win the league this year. I think Man Utd will have a battle on their hands with Arsenal to come 2nd and then it will be down to Liverpool and Spurs to fight for 4th place (providing Liverpool decide to win some games).
And to think, at the end of last season everyone was thinking it could be liverpools year this year. Sadly it could all turn to dust if they are not careful. Still, could be worse, couldnt it?
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So then you're saying we DID NOT sign Inguinal Hernia? That's unfortunate as he could have been the savior. The sad thing is Senior Hernia is a complete figment of the author's vivid imagination and he'd still be a better first choice up front than Voronin. I can understand why Benitez started him, obviously the squad needed the advantage Voronin's hair could provide.
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Robbo, I enjoy your Blog and sense of humour but isn't it about time for some regulation? There are a number of well known clowns on here who would appear to have no life whatsoever and fill every Blog with either bitter tripe or irrelavent jibberings. There's a case for limiting the number of contributions someone can make on each article surely?
What you need to do is show some of these guys up. Here's some help:
From BeyondthePale last September:
"GuusMourEss wrote:
"Certainly L'pool are slow starters to the Champions League even are unimpressive in qualifying rounds. Yet I see them struggling to qualifying from this group with Fiorentina and Lyon.
I won't be surprised if they move into the Europa League and end up winning it. They have the character to pull through the group stage but injuries and a thin squad may hamper their chances."
BeyondthePale's response:
"It's posts like this, not to mention idiots like this, which prove the reasoning behind moderation of this blog.
The only problem is that the moderators have an agenda and thereby allow far too much of this to pass, which is apparent in the entire thread."
Looks like Guus was spot on there. The reply is laughable though, especially in today's context!
And the same poster in August:
20. At 4:13pm on 20 Aug 2009, BeyondThePale wrote:
"Jermain Defoe must be laughing into his mineral water with Spurs being top. (Top four side this year, I tells ya.)"
"Taking the place of the Ronaldo-less Manc Untied, obviously.
Berbatov looks about as pleased with being Owen's stand-in as the bloke asked to hold Von Staufenburg's bag while he went out for a tab; Rooney simply cannot handle the pressure; and the Manc midfield is, quite simply, comical.
Europa League beckons for the McFans."
Right assessment.....wrong team!! How foolish does he look now.....VERY!!!!
Much more of this is needed Robbo to expose some of these morons but just banning them would be the best policy.
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Wow, Liverpool really get a lot of attention when we are having a bad run (really bad to be fair, and Liverpool fans actually realise this).
So much vitriol, a lot of people need to get into therapy I think.
Anyway, lets be realistic here. The team is struggling due to the injuries or lack of fitness (not exactly the same as we see with Torres, not "injured" but not "fit"), of a number of very key players.
What team wouldnt struggle if they had five or six regular players unavailable or struggling with match fitness? Especially if two of them are your top stars.
Would Arsenal be okay if Fabregas and Van Persie were unfit, and 3 or 4 other key players were missing?
Chelsea without Drogba and Lampard?
Man United without Rooney and ...I cant really think of a second star...maybe Van der Sar, who they struggled without.
Its clear that when it comes to players like Vorinin, Benitez leaves us all scratching our heads, but ever time United get beat I see hundreds of United fans picking out players who shouldnt have been on the field, and often its players like Scholes and Giggs, who are accomplished pros.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Nani was singled out for some real ire from United fans for his performance against Liverpool when most thought Anderson should have played. So picking on a player after a defeat is too easy.
Shipping late goals, is not a habit we want to get into to, and I think, as we saw on Wednesday it becomes self fulfilling. Players get very tense when they have shipped a couple of late goals, and that just invites mistakes and hey presto, in goes another.
This patch will end. Players will come back into the team and we will start playing and winning games. Perhaps it will be too late for the CL, and probably too late to be a PL contender, but it will certainly be in time to get into the top four. Arsenal were in a similar position last year, and a got run after Christmas saw them pull clear of the pretenders.
I am not a fan of Rafa (by that I mean I dont idolise him, and elevate him beyond criticism), but he is most certainly capable of weathering this little storm.
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"...unless you support Spurs with the kind of fundamentalism that would make the Spanish Inquisition blush..."
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you've bottled it again Robbo; using a 500 year old Christian fundamentalist movement, instead of daring to use present day Islamic fundamentalism as your metaphor. Every religion has fundamentalists, and the "this is more relevant to my readers" argument really doesn't work this time.
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361. At 11:54pm on 05 Nov 2009, BeyondThePale wrote:
A handy one to know, if your PC is taking an age to start up, is START/RUN/msconfig and then you can turn off all the crap you don't want to open on startup.
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I know this sounds like I'm a luddite, (no formal PC training, as I'm too old to have done it at school, too young to have done it at work!)but where do you actually type this on vista?
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
@388. At 04:28am on 06 Nov 2009, torontored wrote:
"Wow, Liverpool really get a lot of attention when we are having a bad run (really bad to be fair, and Liverpool fans actually realise this).
So much vitriol, a lot of people need to get into therapy I think."
Having read most of the responses I'm afraid most of the vitriol is coming from Liverpool fans and the serial 'angry' people on here are mostly Liverpool fans too.
As for injuries. We see it season after season. Teams with no strength in depth bleating as soon as they have a couple of players injured.
Only Gerrard and Johnson, possibly Reira, would have played if Liverpool had all players fit. That's 3 first choice players missing.
You might note that Utd had Ferdinand, Vidic, Giggs, Hargreaves and Berbatov out injured and chose to rest several others.....showing the sort of strength in depth Liverpool can only dream about.
Anyway, lets be realistic here. The team is struggling due to the injuries or lack of fitness (not exactly the same as we see with Torres, not "injured" but not "fit"), of a number of very key players.
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I get sick and tired of reading about the 'beautiful Arsenal'........they were the same last season and won diddly squat, which is exactly what they will win this year. Too many posers and divers.
Surely Liverpool also aren't worth the constant press they keep getting? They've won even less than liverpool over the past 20 years yet keep getting 'big club' press........Liverppool fans are right up there with Newcastle fans for over rating themselves
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Thank God Benitez is not manager of Man Utd!!!
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Denis,trying to be neutral about this all managers make statements and do things that make you cover your eyes and think"Oh no,what's he said now?"It's part of the media game they all play.The thing that surprises me is when other managers rise to it.Taking Fergie as an example he knows that making some comment he doesn't really believe about the referee etc. takes the heat off his team if they've performed badly,and winds up other managers.They all seem to fall for it though e.g Keegan's outburst 15 years ago.Arsene does it too,e.g "We all think we have the prettiest wife at home."
As for Rafa,when you manage a big club like Liverpool that hasn't won the league for so long he's bound to get put under the microscope until he wins it.It happened to Man Utd. managers for years.The only reason my little club gets so much coverage is because of who is in charge.If we'd started the season like this with Jim Magilton in charge we'd hardly get a mention.
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Its taken me a while but I finally figured out this blog. Just sit tight for the first 100 posts or so, till plastic Liverpool supporters get exhausted with the logic thrown at them and they wander off and put on a Newcastle shirt....(may as well as those fans are just as deluded). Then sit back and watch read some decent comments that have nothing to do with the blog in question and may actually make the basis for the next blog. (Sorry Robbo).
Next weeks blog will feature the insanity of ferguson in persisting with the old gauard and the revelation that Nani will come good.
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Unless Utd play on beat Chelsea on Sunday with Neville, Scholes & Giggs starting and Nani scores the winner after coming on as a substitute.
AN FA Cup blog on non-leaguers beating League 1 & 2 teans would be best on Monday I think
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As an ardent Man U fan (and yes, from Manchester) I can honestly say that if the powers that be at OT sold the naming rights, I would promptly ditch football and watch over 60's speed knitting.
As for Rafa, I also agree that it's not all his fault and the blame rightly falls with those "2 potless chancers" as was so succinctly put :-)
As for Voronin, well, Rafa signed him, so we all know where the finger should be pointing.
Finally, I disagree that Rafa has no "Plan B" - he obviously thinks history will pull his team through again, so in theory he actually has a "Plan H"
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Words Of Wisdom,
Going back through a year of blogging to find a quote!
Really?
Mate, I bet you're the life and soul of any party!
ROTFLMFAO
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#399 - it will never happen just as the Old Trafoord name i sactually worth more commercially along with the "theatre of Dreams" motto than any ammount of cash we had chucked at us - Could possibly allow naming of stands such as the Nike Stretford End but not the whole stadium.
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I'm fairly sure Morientes was one of the top strikers in the CL the previous season. Suddenly, when he arrives at Liverpool he becomes a flop? Typical
Sheva was also one of the top strikers in Europe, but you have to play to his strengths, and like most other top clubs around Europe (just not in England) they develop the team shape to fit that.
In England, we seem to expect players to adapt to standard roles instead.
As for calling Berba, Nani and Anderson flops, I think they all have more league winners medals than Gerrard. Whatever you think about the others, Anderson is no flop.
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Anyway, I'm off today, so rake back through the records all you wish.
Dear me :)
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397. At 09:33am on 06 Nov 2009, collie21 wrote:
Next weeks blog will feature the insanity of ferguson in persisting with the old gauard and the revelation that Nani will come good.
_________________________________________________________________________
Even the original Fancy Dan (whoever he was) would look on Nani as a completely unnecessary addition to any group of people. All he does is uses the left-over hair-product in the dressing-room following the departure of the Portuguese Plummeter.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
GR, Roy Hodgson?
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Whoah,GenesisRed.Why has that been modded?Seemed harmless enough a comment?
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Well I guess they have to moderate someone
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
"It's a good surface to play on already without adding more fertilizer."
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Your best one liner of all time Robbo, hats off to you. Had me rolling about in laughter.
I do disagree about Rafa staying though. I think he's a goner and anyone who thinks Liverpool have even the slightest glimmer of hope of getting out of their group is living in a different world to me.
So I think he'll go. They won't bring Jose in though because he needs money and Liverpool don't have any. Nor will they let Kenny takes the reins again, hes another fella who needs to spend a lot and, if the truth be known, he wasn't THAT good as Liverpool manager an inherited most of his triumphs rather than create them (and he bought the league at Blackburn so I'll not be hearing that one either).
Maybe they could tempt Alan Hansen off his sofa? They could appoint Mark Lawrenson as his assistant. Then they'd have original boot room apprentices who understand the Anfield way. Yes, they'll be crap I know, but its probably their only 'home' option right now.
Nope, instead they'll go for a foreigner that we've all heard of at some point in our lives but can't really place him. He will duly come in and do a much better job that Rafa has - just like ANYONE else could.
The team is the problem and the manager built it. Hes crap and built a reputation on a VERY lucky season in 2005 and a reasonable run last season. Other than that hes not a patch on the truly elite managers like Wenger, Ancelotti, Hiddink, Ferguson, etc.
Our manager won an award this weekend gone. Then, Sir Alex Ferguson referenced Whitley Bay FC at the same awards ceremony by saying United would have felt the same at Wembley as the Seahorses.
Ian Chandler - Liverpool FC shoe in? He'd do a MUCH better job, thats for sure (yes it'll never happen I know but hes a far better manager than Rafa Benitez ever will be).
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http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=249365.0
Have a look TommyO
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Heres the official release:
Whitley Bay manager Ian Chandler was awarded the Football Writers Association (North) Special Award for 2009 in a ceremony in Manchester on Sunday night.
Others winners at the same event were Sir Alex Ferguson, Owen Coyle & Nigel Adkins. The award is in recognition of Bay's excellent season culminating the FA Vase victory at Wembley.
Talking to this website after the event Ian told us "The guest list on the night was a bit overwhelming at first, Sir Alex Ferguson, Sven Goran Eriksson, David Moyes and more.
The best bit of advice I was given came from Joe Royle (Himself a previous winner of the award) who advised 'never make a decision on a Saturday night, as you’ll be full of hell and regret it later.' Never a true word said especially after Saturday’s performance v Tow Law.
The award itself was gratefully received on behalf of Whitley Bay FC and Fans alike, it was very nice to hear Sir Alex talking about Whitley Bay during his acceptance speech, he said the feelings of all involved with Whitley Bay at Wembley would have been no different to that felt and experienced by anyone involved with Man United when winning the premiership."
Whitley Bay have some history with this award, Andy Gowens claiming it on the back of the 2002 Vase success.
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Hansen m anaging Liverpool - Not as bad as you think at least he has good tactical knowledge and would sort their defending out. Better off with Jamie Redknapp as an assistant though as Lawro is too depressing.
Could always put Sammy Lee in charge.
Actually go on please put Sammy Lee in charge
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400. At 09:49am on 06 Nov 2009, BeyondThePale wrote:
Words Of Wisdom,
"Going back through a year of blogging to find a quote!
Really?
Mate, I bet you're the life and soul of any party!"
There it is right there Robbo! 2 months and a couple of weeks suddenly becomes a year! That's all we need to know about this guy really. Sad though!
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@394: "I get sick and tired of reading about the 'beautiful Arsenal'........they were the same last season and won diddly squat, which is exactly what they will win this year. Too many posers and divers."
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Last season I'd have agreed with you.
Not now though. They look very impressive to me and the bottlers and girls blouses commitment seems to have gone.
I think they're looking very good for a punt at winning the Premiership or the Champions League this year. In fact I have a strange feeling that the may well win the latter.
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I don't think they will win those 2 although I think it will be tight and they will probably reach teh semis again in teh CL. I'm still tipping a Utd double especially if Real, Barca, Bayern and Liverpool are knocked out at the group stage.
Arsenal I think will win the FA Cup or Carling Cup this year
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I think Chelsea for the league, 'Pool for the Carling cup, Arsenal for CL, Aldershot for the FA cup and Whitley for the Vase (of course).
United... no trophies at all... none!
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
RBA - You know 4 in a row is going to happen
Burnley Sunderland and Hull could yet surprise in January and if Drogba and Essien get injure on ANC duty they could have some problems although given teh fact that their transfer ban has been suspended they may be able to buy themselves out of trouble
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Sorry Adam, i think if it wasn't for Liverpools poor form alot more would be being made of uniteds... if thier are two horses in this race they're both from London... I think in a few matches where 'pools luck has gone one way uniteds has gone another... Luck does run out i am afraid.
But they are jammy dirty stinking united, i would not be that surprised if you are right...
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Liverpool got turned over by arsene's nursery team in the lagerlout cup
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yes our form has bene poor but we have created our own luck and I for one will not care if we win on Sunday via a jammy deflected own goal off John Terry
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I was just winding up Adam, were gonna get knocked out the FA cup tomorrow... lets not let fact get in the way of robbo blog OK... Arsenal won't win the CL this year, or the prem, or the Carling or the FA Cup... but they will play pretty little triangles on thier way to "best runner up"... United will win something, liverpool will win..... nothing.
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Apologies RBA
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That created your own luck thing is only used when it goes your way... when it doesn't "its a freak occurence"... No doubt you help it, and uniteds tanacity does that (see mid week for proof).
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JOB, Now lets not let apologies get in the way of a good Robbo blog either... what would the natives think, haha. No worries mate...
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Must have been the libel element Genesis (I did read your comment before it got modded.) Pathetic given what you had said was true. How does the phrase go? 'All the animals are equal, but some are more equal than others,' or something like that.
Well the January transfer window's going to be eventful. Chelsea are going to be snapping up anything and anyone unless they have this hearing and mete out punishment before then.
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172. At 5:21pm on 05 Nov 2009, GazUtd wrote:
So today's timeline is....
Some people say Rafa is useless.
BTP and Onion deny this and say these people are stupid.
Some people say Rafa is uselles with some points to back this up.
BTP and Onion say these people are stupid, there is a conspiracy and there are no points.
Some people point to respected websites with said points and facts even going so far as to use the website BTP said was gospel.
Gaz, he isn't useless, but BTP and Onion are easily baited, as you know.
And the phrase is that all humans are born equal, but some more equal than others. Animals clearly aren't.
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That created your own luck thing is only used when it goes your way... when it doesn't "its a freak occurence"...
Absolutely correct and I have no problem with that double standard at all.
Swindon Town for the cup (johnstones Paint one)
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Rangers fans out of Europe and back in there natural habitat, a holding cell at the local police station.
Those animals are born low.
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428. At 11:47am on 06 Nov 2009, captainlazytim wrote:
And the phrase is that all humans are born equal, but some more equal than others. Animals clearly aren't.
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Ah, right. Cheers for that :)
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415, Whitley, you´re spot on about the "girlies and the bottlers", I also noticed that the lads look a lot more commited this season. In the games against B´burn and B´ham, two teams that usually kick us off the park, they seemed to give back as good as they got and went about their business without the whinning that has been unfortunatly commenplace in the last few seasons.
It is of course early days yet, but if the lads can keep their new found mettle, maybe, just maybe us gooners can dare to realistically dream the dream.
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428 CLtim, I think Star´ was quoating from George Orwell´s classic Animal Farm and not the bible.
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i'd just like to say i personally hope David Haye get floored by the Lump, as well. he deserves to be put in his place, and shown where he really stands in the world of boxing.
maybe the everton fans saying 'ha ha see you in the Europa League' spoke too soon, as well? seems the PL isn't as strong as we all thought judging by the results this week.
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Words of Wisdom and Beyond The Pale... The latter gets submerged in the red mist of Liverpool worship pretty frequently... and the former seems to have a dossier on other posters' comments... you're not Rafa Benitez are you?
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433. At 11:59am on 06 Nov 2009, Holloway2Holland wrote:
428 CLtim, I think Star´ was quoating from George Orwell´s classic Animal Farm and not the bible.
Sorry, i'm a bit of a pedant. You probably don't need an 'a' in quoting.
The first time i read AF i was blown away. Re-read it recently, can't help but notice that it isn't quite as sharp if you know a bit of background.
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I thought they were supposed to tell you why they censored you?
Don't think Arsenal have the longevity for the league. Need depth. Maybe the cups though. Its all very nice that he plays the young lads, but i think he could do himself a lot of favours with something to put in the cabinet.
Chelsea for CL. United for number 19. Liverpool will be lucky to win a European place.
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Isn't that going to kill boxing to some extent as it is going to end up being how big are you rather than skill - Bit like Ivan Drago in Rocky IV where Rocky's skill and heart beat the extremely large Russian guy (played by a Swede)
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Besides which, there's not a Pool fan out there who's not looking a little daft right now - although I thought TorontoRed, presumably with a bit of distance helping him, summed up their season pretty well a while back
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Totally agree arsenal doenst have longevity for the league... anyways looking forward to see what's gonna happen next
---footballnews4u.com---
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"seems the PL isn't as strong as we all thought judging by the results this week"
That´s right Tim, it´s only the " top 4" that have the real quality, that is proved by how far they progress each year in the CL. The best of the rest never seem to do that well in the UEFA Europa league thingy.
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yes adam, but there is no skill in Haye, and his heart is loathsome. i don't want a non-boxing giant as champ for ever, but i can't stand the 'Hayemaker'.
Robbo, how is a Boro fan commenting on how daft Liverpool fans look. At least we are loyal. Southgate didn't seem to get much sympathy when the back-stabbing happened, despite being a Boro player too.
And i still haven't found any fans actually trying to claim the Voro is good, so we haven't reached insanity yet.
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441. At 12:07pm on 06 Nov 2009, Holloway2Holland wrote:
"seems the PL isn't as strong as we all thought judging by the results this week"
That´s right Tim, it´s only the " top 4" that have the real quality, that is proved by how far they progress each year in the CL. The best of the rest never seem to do that well in the UEFA Europa league thingy.
precisely, but not even the top four. there was a distinct lack of quality from both Man U and Liverpool this week, i thought. Certainly compared to last year's squads (when i thought we had the best midfield in Europe, or maybe second behind Barca)
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Good morning lads, H2H, go ahead, dream the dream, Robbo has connections that can even get Susan Boyle to sing-along with you. Be careful what you say and what key you say it in and how you wave your scarf around, BigBrother in the guise of WoW is watching!
Off golfing, last trophy of the season on the line! Come on Ye Whites! (and Aldershot and Whitley).
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Your average Boro fan is far from deluded. We have learnt from experience. Geordies and, increasingly, Scousers, could learn a thing or two from our lowered expectations. Given that Gibbo is a notoriously faithful chairman in these cut-throat times it was surprising - and pleasing - that he showed a bit of ruthlessness in ditching Southgate even as Boro sat in a reasonable position in the table. I don't think Gareth was stabbed in the back particularly. I seem to remember Benitez coming back to work with the news that his board had been chatting up Jurgen Klinsmann on the sly. No wonder Rafa sometimes seems a bit uppity.
Nevertheless we must agree that Voronin's continued presence in the Liverpool squad is beyond comprehension. He is the Rafa's Jedward.
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what cap size, Trotsky?
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445. At 12:15pm on 06 Nov 2009, Robbo Robson wrote:
Your average Boro fan is far from deluded. We have learnt from experience. Geordies and, increasingly, Scousers, could learn a thing or two from our lowered expectations. Given that Gibbo is a notoriously faithful chairman in these cut-throat times it was surprising - and pleasing - that he showed a bit of ruthlessness in ditching Southgate even as Boro sat in a reasonable position in the table. I don't think Gareth was stabbed in the back particularly. I seem to remember Benitez coming back to work with the news that his board had been chatting up Jurgen Klinsmann on the sly. No wonder Rafa sometimes seems a bit uppity.
Is it possible Boro are the anti-Liverpool. Lower expactations than there should be, mirroring Liverpools delusion (and don't expect me to disagree on that, every year i look at the team and it isn't good enough, and then so-called experts start tipping us for the title, making it worse)
Sorry, i don't know what a Jedward is. Some kind of Jedi recuperation centre?
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443 tim, from what I saw of the CL this week I thought Arsenal totally outclassed AZ, L´pool had their chances but just lacked a cutting edge to get the results that their possession/oppertunities merited and that Man Utd´s class did shine through when they fought back to earn a draw.
I didn´t see much of the Chelsea game.
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Trotter, have fun mate.
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Man Utd 'class' was in contrast to a poor (but improving) Russian outfit. I thought they had enough to match Barca last year, and was wrong, and they have only lost quality over the summer.
Arsenal, i must agree, have masses of class, technique and skill. And they have Eboue.
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Trotter - do not scare people with SuBo
I woke up withe the headline BOYLE CLOSE TO PORNO
Acter the shock and near haert attack wore off I realised it was Danny Boyle making the sequel to Trainspotting.
Seriously scary that woman - like a female version of Johnny from The Shining. No wonder she's never married though
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Robbo, have a word with the beeb, everytime i hit refresh, i get tiny fonts and giant rafa with his tongue out... i nearly choked on a rich tea a moment ago! Tell Phil McNulty to put 50p in the meter or something!
Oh and all this talk of loyalties to managers is bullspit, they'll stab you in the back for a better pay check in heart beat (granted some are OK, but not many). You can give them support, admiration, hail them as the ginger Mourinho but in the end they'll take a pay rise at a failing Wycombe over loyalty... Or alternateyl they ponce back to the seaside to work for Swiss millionaires then stab the board in the back on the way out for not saying well done for being at work on time and getting us very poor results...
I'm not bitter though...
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I hear Coppell's turned down Reading - so he's available for Hull or Aldershot
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Oh and all this talk of loyalties to managers is bullspit, they'll stab you in the back for a better pay check in heartbeat...
Dismissive, driven by experience, and sadly Rafa is one of the few loyal to his team (i'd say). As Robbly O pointed out, didn't cry when Jurgen was offered his job, turned down Real Madrid (which was probably more money at the time)...
Would seem that it is more fitting now this page only works best out of three, it is the BBC
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Yes yes, never mind all that, what about new names for St James Park? I think Stadium of Light B or the FTM arena both have a nice ring to them :-)
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RBA, at least you can find comfort in, and have a laugh at, the fact that your ex manager is having a nightmare in his new post, and probably won´t be there for long if this rut continues.
But the big question is would you guys want/take him back?
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With the news of Chelsea´s transfer ban being lifted, I wonder how many billions they will splash out in January?
Although I do think that it puts pressure on Ancelotti again, he can´t hide behind the ban if he fails to win anything this year, and we all know that chairman RA isn´t renowned in accepting failure.
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42. Yianman1 wrote:
"Ladies, Ladies, (meaning non Liverpool supporters jumping on the wagon), Can you please wait until the end of the season to judge us as you are seriously asking for some major egg face / humble pie scenario..."
Erm, I think you're missing the points of these blogs. Are you suggesting that no-one can have a football related opinion until the end of the season?
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77. CousinKev wrote:
"Though the sycophantic, xenophobic treatment of Rafa by the media is quite disgusting"
I'm still trying to get my head around this one. Did they call him a 'fantastic Spaniard' or something??
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144. Holloway2Holland
Great point. EVERY team has 'glory-seekers', not just Premiership teams. Look at the FA Cup grounds this weekend, probably packed to the rafters for the first time this season.
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afternoon All.
Nice lil read as per usual.
I particulary like the input from the usual suspects and last nights
computer class was very welcome, even though the advice about hitting
certain F keys had my eyebrows raised. The bit about msconfig should have been well known to the xteacher/offender of a Cat B high security
holiday camp though.
as for the blog itself, nice to read the praise given to the Gunners, makes a welcome change, but then to be fair to Robbo he has often praised
the footy they play so no bias there, end of conspiracy theories.
The bit about the fertilser had me laughing quite a bit even my cat thought i had flown over the cuckoos nest.
nice lil blog from Phil as well, alas i got a tad carried away and had 5 of my comments removed but at least i had some emails to read.
top notch performance from Arsenal, although many of us Gooners know its
still early doors to make wild predictions, surfice to say it is looking a great deal better and on the evidence thus far the PL and CL are attainable.
the chavs are renaming the stadium and now have thier transfer embargo lifted nothing of any interest there then to speak of.
Phil Brown still has a job and rangers surporters ( or some of them ) are still seen to be bringing the game into disrepute, via hooligans etc if this be the case, extensions to hadrians wall should commence forthwith just to kinda confirm that neither them or celtic are wanted in the PL and they should remain firmly encamped in the SPL. there is little use in the EPL Clubs providing state of the art stadiums only to have them wrecked by thousands of Special Brew Crew dropouts, theres enough of them on the streets of canterbury as it is.
as is normal for me i wont join in the spatts etc against Rafa as i happen to like the man a very welcome addition to the PL for sure.
as for liverpool, i think they are in a bit of deep doodoo but they will survive it.
and lastly:
a few blogs ago someone mentioned a cliche forming in robbos blogs and that this might disuade others from wishing to take part.
fear thee not and for those onlookers with fingers hovering over the sign in button i have this advice;
go ahead and click it, all you need to remember is, like me, be sensible in your posts, and stick to the facts eg:
Arsenal are the best team in the Premiership by a mile and
Arsenal went a whole season unbeaten ( 49 games ) this mentioned as i am not sure exactly just how many people know of this great achievment.
and lastly its a great laugh reading the inputs on here.
Shine you crazy Diamonds.
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20. TommyOnion wrote:
"I do expect better of our own and Whelan & Souness need to have a good look at themselves following their recent comments. I still believe Benitez to be one of the top managers in the game.... The biggest problem at our club remains the two potless chancers that own us."
But Souness and Whelan (and Hansen too) are just expressing their opinions! It probably hurts them to criticize Liverpool but at least they're being honest. I don't understand why Liverpool fans can't be subjective too. Yes the owners are problematic but the unstinting support of Rafa (in most parts) is baffling. His transfer record is abysmal and I think Liverpool fans are 'keeping the faith' purely because of one very fortuitous Champion League victory in Istanbul. I'm not saying that to wind people up, I truly believe it. I think Liverpool SHOULD have had a lot more success in Rafa's reign and I think Liverpool SHOULD be a much better team than they are right now.
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Aren't opinions illegal on the BBC - don't we have to toe the McNulty line of Liverpool for every trophy going.
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With the news that C Ronaldo is going to be out for longer with his ankle problems - does anyone think that that crackpot may have just been telling the truth about the voodoo spell he claimed to have cursed him with?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1220066/Cristiano-Ronaldos-voodoo-attacker-claims-asked-curse-David-Beckham.html
If so - I bet he is having the last laugh now and absolutely coining it in!
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460. At 1:11pm on 06 Nov 2009, _ceiling_fan_ wrote:
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Exactly my point, ofcourse the bigger teams will get more glory fans, but it´s not an excluisive thing.
That said, I´m happy for the smaller teams to get that extra windfall, only wish for them that it would happen more often.
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The FA Cup will always attract extra fans who want a chance to see League opposition at a reasonable price but also be able to say that they were there watching when it happened.
As clubs move up the ladder you get more fans when they fall you get less. Look at Newcastle last season they sold out most games now they average 5-10,000 empty seats a game as those who want see Premier League teams stay away. It comes down to the quality of the opposition a lot of time more people will come and watch their team play Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal & Liverpool than will watch Bolton, Wigan or Blackburn.
The good thing is that even if they lose the money the small clubs receive will at least keep them solvent for a few more years
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462. At 1:26pm on 06 Nov 2009, _ceiling_fan_ wrote:
...I don't understand why Liverpool fans can't be subjective too.
---------------------------------------------------------------
I know it was a typo, mate, but leave it as it is. It's way funnier. Classic.
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just for you dg3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN5vxQAWhpc
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Bit cheeky dg3,I know.I just don't see things like this happening ever again!!!
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H2H @ 456.... In a heartbeat, a quality manager... He brought us back in the football league in the best possible style (101 points!). And we did very well with him last term and the beggining of this... Its the only reason i am bitter about him going...
And i have an intense dislike for Wycombe, i worked up that way for a while and had a few Wanderers mates... i always like to see them do badly... He'll not get the boot though, the rot was well set in for them before Waddock turned up... And if anyone can turn their firtuns around its the Ginger Mourinho...
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464 Two_Footed_Challenge.
I enjoyed that article, good for a giggle.
Can youn imagine if "Pepe" got arrested and Ronaldo had to pick him out of a line up, how would he know witch one to choose?
468. At 2:01pm on 06 Nov 2009, jacksofbuxton wrote:
My first Wembely final, that brought back some painful memories, although I do remember feeling a lot better the following year
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jacksofbuxton
no worrys
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FeelingHornet
"I know it was a typo, mate, but leave it as it is. It's way funnier. Classic."
Maybe it's cos it's Friday but I don't see the typo? Subjective/objective maybe?
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H2H,I remember being at my Aunt's wedding F.A cup final day in 1979.I realise I'm in for some stick,but here goes...I was the only one there that wanted Arsenal to win.My dirty secret is now out...I have a soft spot(amongst others)for the Arsenal.Help!
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H2H - like what you did there.
I going to do some digging around and see if I can find out if this 'Pepe' fella was the one who put the mockers on my burgeoning football career...
It would be great if it was reality though - you could just give this hexer a bell and crock any player that was doing your head in at that time.
On that note - which current player would you get Pepe to use his voodoo skills on?
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#473
Arhh, hoisted by my own petard. So, "typo" was not accurate, more "fingers too fast for the brain". There're no flies on you. Proverbially speaking, of course.
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My first Wembely final, that brought back some painful memories, although I do remember feeling a lot better the following year
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I bet you did. In my 1st year at Pooles Park (moved there in 1981) we had a raint PE lesson and I was subjected to watching on video. Pure torture watching the Arsenal fans (i.e the majority of the school) gloating
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I am assuming H2H it is the 1979 cup final you were referring to
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474 JoB, closet gooner eh? Good man.
475 TFC, The amount of injuries the Arsenal have had I wouldn't be surprised if Pepe was lurking somewhere in the shadows.
477 Adam, I'm sure over the years you've had more than enough chances to have a gloat session.
RBA, my turn to give you the heads up, ROTW's up, with a small mention of your home town.
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478, Adam, Yes Indeed.
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"But I have sympathy with Benitez at the mo. The makeshift 11 he put out in Lyon did him proud, really."
Makeshift?
It was only 2 players off what most people would consider his strongest 11. Johnson for Kyrgiakos and Gerrard for Voronin.
It's silly to consider Aquilani's absence as anything other than Benitez's own making. You buy an injured player and he's out through injury! How unlucky! boo-hoo.
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What'd I miss?
Any sign of Onion after yesterday's sudden disappearance? Hope he wasn't abducted by aliens or something who will leave him back in a couple of days with his memory mysteriously wiped clean. It's happened before!
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He got modded for being,well Onion,ending his note with "I'm off for a few days".Shall we move and not tell him?
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Gaz, there's a bit you'll wanna read about SAF on the Review of the week blog.
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483. At 3:37pm on 06 Nov 2009, jacksofbuxton wrote:
He got modded for being,well Onion,ending his note with "I'm off for a few days".Shall we move and not tell him?
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Probably for drivelling on about how 230 mill spent on 70 players over 5 years is in no way responsible for Liverpool's predicament for about the billionth time.
I forget now, I've heard it so many times it's white noise to me.
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While I'm here, I genuinely thing the Beeb's been taking lesons from Microsoft when it comes to updating things ... Rush it out regardless of how many glitches are in the code that will in turn cause your average PC user to want to hurl their keyboard through the monitor out of frustration.
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H2h - What price Harry's reaction if Sunderland turn them over considering what he was like after the Derby?
Whether he likes it or not it is a big game as Sunderland are pressing their claims to break into the top 6 and if Spurs and City & Villa win Spurs will lose ground on the top 4
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Starfire you are indeed correct - also the lack of a "hide this screen from your boss/colleagues quickly" button next to comments box is annoying
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I agree with Starfire. Its quite riduculous considering the large army of IT experts available to them, perhaps they should come on here and have a look at last nights very informative computer lessons which covered a multitude of the most basic of tasks.
I have to ask why did the BBC have to mend something that was not broken
and when will they be bringing in retinal scans to replace the recent new ID System
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i dunno about F5 i might go for Esc intead.
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Adam, should be interesting, a game that they will want to win to sustain their challenge.
To be far to 'Arry, I think the guy doing the interview asked the questions in a weird way and kind of implied that Spurs were in some kind of crisis, which is ofcourse beyond ridiculous, and HR just reacted to what bhe say as a wind up.
Ps There you go gents, proof you can have respect for your biggest rivals.
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# To be fair
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I have to ask why did the BBC have to mend something that was not broken
-- They have to spend the licence fee on something but I suspect so that you no longer need different logins for Have Your Say etc
and when will they be bringing in retinal scans to replace the recent new ID System
-- Don't be giving them ideas - See Integral by Pet Shop Boys
http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?hl=en&q=rumpus+room+integral&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=sE30SrePCtOk4Qbv3vHdAw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CBkQqwQwBA#
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At 3:50pm on 06 Nov 2009, Holloway2Holland wrote:
Gaz, there's a bit you'll wanna read about SAF on the Review of the week blog.
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Surely not H2H.
I mean SAF being very nice and polite.
But yesterday Denis had someone who agreed with him that he was a disgrace and told me that this meant it was true and that I was completely wrong and must admit so.
So who am I to believe, the people who have met him and keep telling us how nice and polite he is or the couple of people on t'internet.
You can see how this is confusing for me?!
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There you go gents, proof you can have respect for your biggest rivals.
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Just don't go making a habit of it. Think my brain would explode if Onion, DG3 and BTP actually complimented Fergie
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Like I tried to explain to you lot yesterday this is the way computer programmers work.
They are told to upgrade something or write something new.
They do this in their own way because ALL of them think that they know better than anyone else about anything.
They test absolutely nothing. They will tell you they do but they don't. After all why would you need to test something you did when you know everything about everything and are incapable of making mistakes.
The thing they eventually finish will be released and full of bugs.
They will say that it is not bugs but either the user is using it wrong or something else is at fault. The hardware or the weather or the type of shoes someone is wearing, something like that.
After getting the people who want the problem fixed so annoyed that they eventually say "Ok so it's not your fault, someone else is to blame, but can you just fix it please" they will then fix it.
For about twice the price it cost in the first place probably.
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At 4:26pm on 06 Nov 2009, adampsb wrote:
Just don't go making a habit of it. Think my brain would explode if Onion, DG3 and BTP actually complimented Fergie
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Bit unfair including DG3 (if you mean DaveGilmour there Adam.
He's a bit of a joker and definitely doesn't deserve to be in the same bracket as Onion and BTP.
Now Denis on the other hand...
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possibly could be mixing people up - have a cold so not in tip-top shape although the news of an upcoming Pet Shop Boys Christmas single being released just in time to beat the X-Factor winner to Number 1 has cheered me up a lot
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Reading the review of the week,how about our friends from Rotherham that drove all the way down to Aldershot to watch their brave lads,only to discover the game was being played at........ Rotherham!!!
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They just wanted to sample the delights of Aldershot.
Or more likely meet the famous RBA.
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