I think it's safe to assume that all managers need to fight for their survival from day one. It is commonplace these days for managers to lose their jobs just months into their tenures. I don't think Hodgson every assumed his job was safe. I personally don't think it has as much to do with which players he fields but rather where he fields them. I honestly don't see a big gap in quality between Poulsen and Lucas and I doubt replacing one with the other will change our fortunes much. We have deployed the 4-4-2 a number of times this season but have yet to address the fact that there is often a gulf of empty space between the front two and the rest of the team. It's why I said that Hodgson should push the midfield further up the park if he does intend to go for three points especially when we are at home against teams like Sunderland.



Hardly a call for optimism given the results from fielding them together in recent times.

It isn't as much a "hostile" situation is it is a high pressured one. The Anfield hot seat was at one time much sought after and even now, there is a great deal of pressure on the manager because of the expectations of fans. This has all however nothing to do with the method is which managers choose to put instructions across. It has to do with them giving instructions at all. Mmm sorry but I don't get your point on Rafa shouting or Houllier having a heart attack.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Sep 29 2010, 02:49 PM

I share the frustrations of you all. Most of us will agree that we can trace almost all our problems back to the current owners. Nothing much we can do about that. What we can do is to remain loyal to our team and be hopeful - no point being overly optimistic or pessimistic. Let's just continue to enjoy our Reds.

Yes, the players are probably affected by the ownership issue etc.. but they are GOOD players and they can still play some GOOD football. Cole's ball skills are a joy to watch; what they said about Mereiles being an end-to-end player seem to be true. Of course, we still have Gerrard, Torres, Reina and even Kuyt to savour. Jova works harder than Riera and Babel ever did, and Ngog is beginning to score goals. These are the stuff that provide some hope to the supporters.

Remember that "form is temporary but class is permanent"? LFC is a class team going through a temporary dip in form.

The thing is I know we have good players which adds to the frustration. Last season, we got posters downplaying our defeats to the likes of teams like Portsmouth, despite the fact that almost each and every player in our first eleven is a full fledged international for decent international sides. It isn't as though we have a team of internationals from Maldova, Faroe Islands or Fiji. It is therefore really agitating when we struggle against weak sides.

"Form is temporary but class is permanent". I subscribe to this belief but we aren't talking about a player going through a bad patch here. We are talking about a club going through some real problems. You are talking about a club who on a commercial front has fallen way behind our rivals. The mancs may have woes of their own but from a commercial standpoint, they are one of the biggest brands in the world. I am proud of our illustrious past, culture and traditions but it is true that we cannot continue to live in the past. It is true that we cannot hope to gain more fans by preaching about how much Shankly means to us (it hasn't worked here has it?). Fact of the matters is that the mass market does not care. If you are successful, you get fans and when you have these fans, you need to milk them dry, something we failed to do when we were the top dog in England.

Class is indeed permanent but we have to embrace reality and accept that class may be something we are devoid off at the moment.

but does King Kenny involve in searching for new manager in a few month ago?

he did but end up so frustrated with the quality of shortlist that he nominated himself

I can't fantom who might want to manage us in the state that we are in, bar SVG. Expectations are high and transfer funds are almost non-existent. For a high profile manager it will be like signing his own death warrant.

Cannot agree with quite a few things you wrote. When a club has real problems, it will affect players. Commercially, LFC has not done badly despite not being the England FA's favourite (read Man U) and not having Russian or Arab oil money. LFC may not be the current biggest brand but it may have the largest following amongst baby boomers worldwide, and boomers still hold the purse strings in most Asian households! Don't understand your point that the club should have milked its fans dry but LFC has never been quite as caught up with business and money until the last decade or so. If you agree that class is permanent then LFC cannot be devoid of it at any moment!

Please allow me to give you the following account : Man U got worldwide sympathy after their plane crash tragedy back in the late 1950s and the English FA fell in "permanent love" with it. However, it could not avoid being relegated in the early 1970s - they had a terrible, terrible season which ended with one of their former favourites Denis Law backheeling Man City's third or fourth goal in against them. That season, Man U's form was somewhere in outer space! But they are a class team (like it or not) and many supporters (including one of my classmates) continued to support them in Div 2 the following season.

Liverpool is a class team, going through a bad patch. Judging from the first 6 games, I don't think they are in any danger of relegation. I personally feel that they will finish among the top 7 again.

My friend, you are entitled your rantings but not everyone would like to join your continuous lamenting. Let's watch the season as it unfolds and see how LFC's pedigree will come through. In the meantime, don't forget to enjoy the games - watching football is supposed to relax us and give us something to talk/write about, not drag us down into depression or, worse still, give us a heart attack!

he voice up his frustration after RH appointed....


yep...with problem that come from our owner as well.There's a few great manager out there...they just have to do some minor changes, tweak the current squad, why i said minor changes? cause we have player that play for their respective country!...just play a good football, and make others team afraid of Liverpool FC...for instance... Liverpool VS Arsenal 4-4 and we lost to Chelsea in CL.....i never felt we lost in that match, cause we play great football.....

Err...you sent the emails already or not?

i think the views here on LFc arent as caustic ... saved for the cowboys
(err maybe i did too read some off our ex-manager(s), which i think we shouldnt have )


This post has been edited by koolspyda: Sep 29 2010, 07:06 PM

frustrating, that sums up the first 2 months of our season. in the fans' eyes. some of us look for more optimism since its safe to say its still early days in roy's reign. some are hoping to see us perform better to the level we know we are capable of. whatever it is, not one of us here wants to see our team lose. thats obvious. hence, we can only hope for the better, if not we might lose our top players being shipped out. it wont suprise me to see torres leave next summer. but point is, right now, we are in this together. i can only hope we start to get results our way. expect a few first teamers to be rested again tmr as roy continues to concentrate on the league. anyways, read in papers today that deschamps rejected our approach, stated there he was really considering it, only thing was that he had already started pre season with marseille and how much the fans meant to him. if it was a week earlier, it might have very well be the frenchman as our manager.

well, even the top teams struggle for some period. maybe this is ours. read : real madrid. just continue to be supportive n never lose FAITH.

on the debate on whether glenny shud be played as a winger, i am excited about that prospect as we lack natural wide players. hope to see some changes. roy said he already know what to change prior to sunderland's game. i bet things didnt work out quite well. n really hope torres gets another goal. probably the goal will get him going. even rooney is having a drought. talk about form

from what i heard, Pellegrini was King's 1st choice.

Let's take a bit of a detour for the moment. I know we have been accused many time to live in the past, but i guess there's nothing wrong in relieving in the sheer moment of brilliant football that we were able to produce.

For the benefit of our younger fans in here. heck im young myself. Im sharing the Liverpool Season Review of 1987/1988.

This team is widely acknowledged to be one of the best team's in Liverpool history. It had talent, finesse, skills and most important what is sorely lacking in our team right now. Pass & Move football. This team was the absolute best in pass n move football. When mentioned pass & move first thing comes to mind is Liverpool.

Ever wanted to know how John Barnes , Peter Beardsley , John Aldrigde ,Steve Nicol, Steve McMahon were in their absolute prime? watch it, and relive it. jaw dropping football and this is what were capable of in the 80's

Liverpool Season Review 1987/1988

Thanks to those guys at RAWK.

infact Liverpool was the pioneer of one touch football in EPL (then) which we witness once in a while in our current crop of players

thankz...i miss this old days....at least dapat mengubati kerinduan di hati...

Maybe RH can try Spearing + Meireles Midfield combo instead of fielding Poulsen or Lucas...

Reina
Johnson-Carra-Soto-Agger
Spearing
Kuyt-Meireles-Cole
Gerrard
Torres

We need a solid midfield to assist Gerrard & Torres..
Gerrard-Torres partnership is still relevant to me; as long we have a good midfielders + CREATIVE as well...

IMO, since u said that. Raul and Joey could play together in CM?

Hollywood A-listers to join battle for Liverpool
Published 19:41 29/09/10 By David Maddock


The campaign against Liverpool’s owners is about to reach for the stars…with a cast of Hollywood A-listers READY to highlight the protest.

Film industry big-hitters Mike Jefferies and Dan Hubbard, who are passionate Reds disgusted at what is happening to their beloved club, are on Merseyside this weekend to make a film highlighting the current plight.

Jefferies is a Hollywood producer and director with a string of box office hits to his credit, while Hubbard has been involved in massive blockbusters such as King Kong and Bourne Ultimatum, and both will bring their impressive contacts list to the party.


They intend to make a film that will hit the internet next week, with celebrities and influential Liverpool fans involved in what promises to be a massive viral campaign with millions of online hits.

Already, superstars such as Samuel L Jackson and Mike Myers – both confirmed Liverpool fans – are rumoured to be involved, and Jefferies, who wrote and produced the Disney ‘Goal!’ series of movies, has promised some huge names.

“You won’t believe who’s involved. I’ve been stunned by terrific reaction of so many celebrity Reds, and many, many fans want to be involved in the film too,” he said.

“It is important to get the message across that the fans want Hicks and Gillett out. There are millions of supporters who can not accept their club being touted as a product like a soft drink.

“The viral is already building massive momentum and there is a real feeling now amongst the fanbase. But they don’t care, they don’t care about our club – except its valuation.

“They don’t care about the players or the fans. Or our history, or our heritage, and they don’t care about our future.

“By trying to refinance instead of showing some class and cutting a reasonable deal with someone and cutting his losses, Hicks is saying 'f**k you' to the fans.

“So what should we say in reply? ENOUGH! The only way we can get him to change his arrogant mindset is to give him a bloody nose and embarrass him in front of his family, friends, business associates, investors etc.

“Therefore, I flew up from Cape Town last night to come to Liverpool to make a short film here this weekend in which Liverpool fans and stakeholders will tell Tom Hicks – and the world – what they think of him. We are going to shame him and hit him where it hurts.”

The Hollywood pair have already enlisted some massive stars to appear in the film, but they want more fans, and more celebrities to turn up in Liverpool this week to be part of the film.

They will be based at the Hope Street Hotel in the city centre from 10am-6pm on Saturday, and 9am-noon on Sunday, and want people to come along to record their protest.

“Our aim is to work night and day so that we can have the film uploaded onto YouTube by Tuesday, and we would then like fans to email the URL to their entire address books,” he added.

“Imagine if we could get a MILLION hits. If we can achieve that, then we can rest assured that everyone who counts will know that Tom Hicks is utterly despised. And more importantly, Tom Hicks will know.”

Jefferies wants as many fans as possible to join him, and he has promised to keep everyone updated on his Twitter account, which can be found on mikejefferiesL4. And who knows, there may be messages from some of Hollywood’s biggest stars on there….



Read more: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Liver...l#ixzz10yA6jLHz


Read Hollywood producer's open letter to Tom Hicks


Published 19:58 29/09/10 By David Maddock




Hollywood big-hitter Mike Jefferies, who is behind a guerilla film protest aimed at kicking Tom Hicks out of Anfield, has published an open letter to Anfield's in-debt co-owner.

Jefferies and business partner Dan Hubbard have jetted to Merseyside to lead a star-studded protest which is rumoured to include celebrity Reds Samuel L Jackson and Mike Myers. Here is an edited version of his letter...



So Tom Hicks wants to refinance and hang on to LFC. Hasn’t he got the message?


Doesn’t he know he has become the most despised person on Merseyside since Kelvin f***ing McKenzie? Doesn’t he realise the damage he’s doing to our club?

Just look at what he’s been doing:

•He promised that the acquisition of LFC would not be a Glazer-Style LBO. It ended up being as bad – if not worse – with all the debt being loaded onto the club’s balance sheet. The net result is that the club is now up to its ears in debt. And it could get worse!

•He’s been behind a policy to sell many top players and replace them with (significantly) cheaper alternatives. This, despite promises of “Snoogy Doogy” and “Big Summer 2010”.

•Despite promises made to the contrary, he’s failed to start work on a new stadium – despite circa $100M being spent on Architect fees.

•He undermined Rafa Benitez by (scandalously) having public discussions with a possible successor, Jurgen Klinsmann.

•He resorted to nepotism and appointed his son to the Board of Directors, who soon had to resign after sending an email to a fan in which he wrote: “Blow me f**k face”.

•He’s treated the King with sheer disrespect. Apparently he has “bigger things” in mind for KD than being Manager of LFC.

•He’s embarrassed the hell out of us in the media (and amongst our peers) with endless reports of trying (unsuccessfully) to shop the club like a clapped-out second-hand car – all over the world from Hong Kong to India, and from Saudi Arabia to the good old USA. Even to Syria! Everyone’s said no. Because of his ridiculous valuation(s).

The above list of ‘Crimes Against LFC’ is pretty shocking. And it’s why we are now languishing above the relegation zone. And out of the Carling Cup (to fourth Division Northampton… @ home!). And with no Champions League football. And with not much likelihood of it next season.

But Tom Hicks doesn’t care. By trying to refinance – instead of showing some class and cutting a reasonable deal with someone and cutting his losses - he is saying “f**k you”.

So what should we say in reply?

“ENOUGH!”

The only way we – as fans and stakeholders – can get him to change his arrogant mindset is to shame him and embarrass him in front of his family, friends, business associates, investors, and political contacts etc. And of course in the media. Especially in the USA. Especially in Texas!

He doesn’t give a s**t what we do in Liverpool….

We have to take this to him in America!

Therefore, I just flew up from Cape Town last night to come to Liverpool to make a short film here this weekend in which Liverpool fans and stakeholders will tell Tom Hicks – and the world! - exactly what they think of him.

And when friends of Tom Hicks see it, they will either start asking him some very painful questions, or they’ll no longer take his calls. We are going to shame him.

Liverpool fans everywhere are coming together this weekend with LOADS of local celebs, former players, high profile Redmen, actors, musicians, politicians and everyone who cares about our unique football club to send a simple, powerful and definitive message to Tom Hicks: GET OUT OF OUR CLUB.

But we want the fans to be included too. So if YOU want to come along and tell Tom Hicks what you think of him, we will be filming on Saturday from 10.00am – 6.00pm at the Hope Street Hotel in Liverpool. Please form an orderly queue and be prepared for a wait....

And we'll be filming on Sunday too around the ground and in the pubs.

Our aim is to work night and day so that we can have the film uploaded onto YouTube by Tuesday and we would like the fans to then email the URL to their entire address books. Spread the word! To the media. To the financial community. To everyone. To the world!

Imagine if we can get a MILLION HITS on YouTube! If we achieve that, then we can rest assured that everyone who counts will know that Tom Hicks is utterly despised. And more importantly, Tom Hicks will know….

Walk on Tom. Jog on Tom. We are LIVERPOOL!!!



Read more: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk

What I said:



What you said:

When did I disagree? I've repeated time and time again that the source of the motivation is from the uncertainty of the club's future and there is a general consensus that morale will be lifted when it's sorted out.



I'm not going to debate assumptions because it will never end. I'll start by commenting on a point you brought you, that Liverpool have never really been caught up with business and money until the last decade, or even less. This further reinforces my point that we never capitalised on our success back in the 80's. We were the last Premiership club to have our own website and we never had a Commercial Director until the appointment of Ian Ayre in 2007. I've no doubt that we have a pretty large global following but we never saw it fit to tap on them until recently, hence the appointment of Ayre. Just to add, we have only just recently launched our own TV station. Instead of leading the trend, we are now followers. Do read this interview with Ayre if you haven't already. It gives readers an idea of what we could have done much earlier to ensure our commercial value is higher than it is now. Yes we have a large following but up until recently, we didn't have proper communication channels with our fans whether it be via the internet, TV, LFC stores, email, etc. http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news...s-with-ian-ayre

Since the appointment of Ayre, we've begun to look into channels and issues we previously overlooked. Here is a simple example, the Liverbird which was never trademarked until recently. I can't even begin to imagine how much we've lost over the years (http://www.football-marketing.com/2010/09/14/new-deal-could-earn-liverpool-football-club-millions-in-lost-revenue/).

I'm going to touch a little on sponsorship. Prior to Standard Chartered, our partnership with Carlsberg was the longest standing in the Premiership. This 'symbiotic' relationship cost them $7 million pounds yearly (http://soccerlens.com/english-premier-league-club-sponsors/19279/). In 2006, Tottenham signed a deal with sponsors, Mansion worth at least $8.5 million pounds yearly and Spurs have won next to nothing in years. In contrast we won the Champions League in 2005 and went all the way to the finals again in 2007. Can you imagine how many more eyeballs Carlsberg got over the course of the tournament? Why Rick Parry stuck with Carlsberg for so long remains a mystery. Man Utd rake in $14.5 million pounds a year from AIG. We have only just recently agreed to a $20 million pound a year deal with Standard Chartered which does suggest we still have status. It's just frustrating that it took this long to capitalise on it.

I don't actually disagree with anything you've said here and my take is that all of the above should have been done or at least planned, earlier. By appointing our first Commercial Director in 2007 is a step forward but it's discerning to note that the club never seriously looked into it when we were regularly competing for honours.



What is your definition of "class team"? If it's the football on the pitch, then it's been awhile since I've seen class. We played brilliant football when I first started watching under Dalglish and we played some exciting football under Evans. In the last decade, it is my opinion that there were more boring games than there were brilliant ones, bar the season we finished 2nd.

If you are referring to the club as a whole, which by your reference to past tragedies I assume you are, then yes, Liverpool is a club with class but times have changed and we are only slowly realising that as much as the population of Liverpool would like to keep the club Scouse and local, it needs the support of fans and investors worldwide to compete. The thing is you cannot sell "class' to fans, especially if they do not care about history which is clearly the case these days. I've come across numerous mancs and kopites who have never heard of the Munich Air Disaster or Hillsborough. I've met numerous who have no idea who Duncan Edwards, Dennis Law, Matt Busby, Ian St. John, Emelyn Hughes or Bill Shankly are. Fans know the name of Liverpool Football Club but few can tell you why they support us. This is leading me to believe that by and large, class is overrated as much as I hate to say it. Liverpool have always tried to avoid losing our identity by selling ourselves to the global market fearing that traditions and values will be lost and diluted over time. It's happening right now.

Mate, I'm not here to be popular or politically correct. I offer my views just as any other and my pessimism was cultivated over years, not just one season. This doesn't mean I don't watch games and go ballistic when we score. You can ask those who have watched games with me. I have no control over who goes into depression for posters are always welcomed to counter my views with well formed opinions, and this may even help change the way I see things but I have yet to come across any unfortunately. Suffice to say, a pat on the back accompanied by a "it's ok, everything will be alright, cheer up", won't suffice. I hope to see concrete reasons for optimism pretty soon a good sign would be seeing the back of those damn yanks, or damn yank as it may be now.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Sep 30 2010, 02:21 PM

Hard to call you a pessimist judging by the way you watch football. It's also hard to call you neutral as well. Guess alcohol make us all optimistic eh? LOL