It's a terrible start to the season, no doubt but still one game.

What's more important in PL is consistency, which is the acid test for the top 4 teams. Actually, only the top 2 teams have been consistent over the last couple of seasons and this is reflected by the wide difference in points total.

BR needs to have a good system in place and he then needs good players who can adapt to and play in the system. Those who cannot or will not adapt will have to go really. So far, all our players say they like BR's approach etc.. but how many really mean it will only be revealed as the season progresses.

Obviously Borini and Allen should be able to adapt cos they played well under BR before.

Gerrard is no longer at his prime, but he can still contribute. BR will have to manage the transition from Gerrard to Allen. If I were BR, I will have to think very hard about Suarez's role. I personally love his skills but unfortunately he is not a prolific scorer.

So, Mr BR your work is cut out for you this season. I agree that we should not expect too much this season but there must be improvement to reflect that we are heading the right direction.

One of the keys to unlocking the Reds' prospect of doing well this season, IMO, is managing Luis Suarez.

I agree with Gary Mac's assessment that Suarez is not a natural scorer and should therrefore not be relied upon to bring goals. So, put him on the bench - he'll throw a tantrum. Getting him to play a creative role and enable others (Borini, Caroll, Gerrard) to finish is a better option.

Having said that, it will not be easy for BR to manage him, and most South Americans are like that.

The other key, obviously, is having a natural (I used the word 'prolific') goalscorer. Do we have one? Can we cultivate one? Is it still possible and affordable to buy one?

Our finishing (or rather the lack of it) was the other key to that dreadful result on Saturday. For that matter, it was arguably the main contributor to our doing poorly last season.

I was kind of hoping that Man City would sell Dzeko and that we would try and get him. He's quite a natural although the big money buys have pushed him aside. See how he could still come on against Southampton and score the equalizer?

You got a good point there! If Pacheco is such a natural scorer, the least we can do is to start grooming him to be our main PL finisher. In fact, even Sterling seems to have a nose for goal.

If I were BR, I will get an assurance in writing from Henry & co that they won't sack (or even threaten to sack) me for two seasons and then re-build decisively, but not necessarily expensively. Recoup some money by selling off Adam, Henderson and even Downing, and unleash the likes of Pacheco and Sterling.

Whatever Joe Allen may be, at least he looks much better than Adam and Henderson in midfield.

Got a bad feeling that Cole will eventually be released cos I don't think any PL team will want to pay such high wages for an aging player who may be prone to injury i.e. very low returns or probably a liability...sigh!

I hope for a good showing tonight. City is without Aguero and we can consider that a tiny little advantage, but we need to have the right players showing up with the right form tonight.

Don't know why some of us are so desirous of Enrique playing. To me, his form went from bad to apalling in the latter part of last season and I still think he doesn't focus and/or think enough during games. Similarly, I don't wish to see Adam, Spearing and Carra playing tonight.

Downing and Henderson may be talented but so painfully inconsistent and, hence, unreliable. Gerrard ..sigh..I hope that BR will be brave enough to sub him if he "doesn't turn up" again.

Lastly, I hope Suarez got wind about being described as "not a natural goalscorer" and "cannot be relied upon for goals", and fire one or two in!

"convincingly" would have been a bit too much lah, but we played well. Specifically Allen, Shelvey and Sterling played very well. Yea, it is 2 points lost but this performance will boost the players' confidence.

So unfortunate to have conceded through an awful back pass, and from someone who has been a defensive tower all night and scored a great goal too. However, we were also fortunate not to have conceded early in the first half when Tevez's pass or shot hit the post. In fact, City nearly overwhelmed us for the first 15 minutes or so.

We should take heart from this, regain the belief that the team can play well and concentrate on the next game!

YNWA

Imagine if we had won last night, this team would be praised to the moon! Actually, we are very much work-in-progress. Not sure if bringing in more players by Friday will be a good thing but then again BR is the man!

As many of us rightly pointed out : CONSISTENCY must be our prime target - the WBA thrashing was one match, and this draw against Man City is also one match.

Having said that, I'm glad Adam, Spearing and Carra didn't play and Downing and Henderson were not brought on. Shelvey was shaky earlier but grew in stature and influence as the game progressed.

For me, the bottomline is that there is hope for my team this season - they can still play! I don't know how the team will be changed but at least, I'm looking forward to it with great interest.

Bought mine one week before the start of this season. Rather impulsive really because other than the kit, there don't seem to be other benefits. Would you be so kind as to let me know what else I can do with this international membership? Thanks!

With all due respect to BR, I agree.

KD had played, had played cum managed his way to the double, had managed a lower division team back to the first and won the league. BR has a long way to go to match those achievements. In fact, I still think KD was good enough to lead the Reds back to a high standard, but Americans .. they are impatient..sigh.

BR has the potential. If the Americans don't interfere/disturb him, he should do well with the Reds. However, one should not expect too much this season.

Well, that wasn't primarily about patience.

Anyway, we don't want to go there again, do we?

Hope BR fields Brad Jones in goal against Hearts, for a change. I felt it was crazy to have Reina playing in every tournament during the last 5 seasons(?) as if we don't have any reserve keeper. I think BR should seriously look at some young goalkeepers to understudy and eventually succeed Reina. (Both Doni and Jones are not young - btw what has happened to Doni? He didn't go on the USA tour did he?)

After all, succession planning is such a critical thing in managing all the other positions. Of course it is more straight forward for goalkeepers, whereas it depends on the system of play for outfield players.

Sometimes, for example, it may not be possible to find a successor for a player like Gerrard. So, a new system deploying a Allen/Shelvey combo may be necessary. Hence, I come to my point that BR has to be brave enough to bench our captain marvel, when the time is right.

Brace yourself people - it may begin this season.

If a winger can be 'converted' into a defender, I'm quite sure we can convert a midfielder into a striker! We actually have one who scored regularly as a midfielder, at his prime.

Of course I'm thinking of Steven Gerrard! Let Allen, Shelvey, Sahin, Lucas (after he's recovered), Sterling etc.. take care of midfield so that Gerrard just use his limited energy to re-sharpen his scoring touches and bang those goals in!

Think positive and YNWA!

Terribly disappointed and frustrated to see how our team started this season. Work-in-progress is ok but we must pinpoint exactly what is going so wrong and take some drastic steps if necessary.

Henry's open letter is obviously one management response, but is useless in itself.

In my opinion, BR has to take some drastic and bold steps; and here are a few that are foremost on my mind :

1) rotate our goalkeeper - Reina is no longer as sharp, no thanks to having to chop the PL tree, the Carling cup tree, the Europa tree and the FA cup tree - use Jones or Doni! if they are really not good enough, then get a better reserve goalie!
2) start replacing Gerrard - whilst he's still admired by Reds fans, and not wait until fans start condemning him - start replacing by substituting him and then gradually start him on the bench. BR has to start implementing this immediately!
3) manage Suarez - yes, he's super wearing the Uruguay shirt but he's not delivering for us. Get him to stop complaining, stop gesturing (and getting unnecessary yellow cards) and start focusing on scoring or helping the team score more!

YNWA

We always advise youngsters not to leave their current job without first securing another. It's a bit like counting your chickens before they hatch or just presumption or (pushing it to the extreme) recklessness.

Letting Carroll go without securing another striker is stupid - we're no longer a CL team; nobody will just come when you want them to and having bosses who are penny-wise does not help either.

It's even more pathetic when we already had one expensive episode not so long ago : letting go Torres and then looking for a replacement! Yes circumstances may have been different with Torres' case, but it was a lesson to be learnt - who is to say that Sturridge won't turn out to be another misfiring striker once he puts on the red shirt!

Yes, I'm all for developing and launching young talents like Sterling (and hopefully others to come) but they will need time to achieve consistency over a season.

I'm in favour of getting Owen back, provided his wage demand (more like request at his age) is reasonable. Somehow whenever he played, he looked dangerous even during his last few matches for the Mancs. I know alot of Reds absolutely loathe him, but this is professional football!

"A return to Anfield would be controversial, not least because he has spent the last three seasons with the club's arch rivals. Former Liverpool star Mark Lawrenson has also raised serious questions over the striker's motivation."

What other motivation can there be? Money lah.. he's a mercenary but he knows where the goal is. Yea, a pay per goal contract will be a good deal - in fact, I suspect that may be the only kind of deal Henry will make with a thirty something striker!

Who can forget the goals scored by the plump-looking Neil Mellor, including one great goal against Arsenal, if I'm not wrong.

Remember being dumbfounded when he was marginalized and eventually kicked out of Anfield - what a waste!

Sadly, like our corporate world, it is not just how good you are but also 'how good you are with so and so', that will give you those breaks! This is not just with managers and coaches but also with seniors - yea, football is no different : there's politics here too!

Of course in certain clubs, there's just one dictator - no matter how good you could be, once you get into his wrong book, you're gone!

Absolutely understand how you feel about Owen! When a player becomes a shining star at 17, everything gets into your head and when he (supposedly) has a gambling habit, that's when the dark side creeps in and takes over (hehe..pardon the star wars innuendo).

Going by what Henry said in his letter, a deal with Owen seems unlikely. Unfortunately, both Anelka and Drogba are contracted and again, I don't think Henry would agree to pay for either of these 30 something..

I think until January, BR will have to make do with what we now have + our reserves (Morgan & co.).