Considering the word through the grapevine is that we won't have much to spend in January, a loan signing looks more likely and Bent is available on loan. Hey I'd like to get Cavani and Huntelaar but I imagine they would be valued anywhere between £20-30 million pounds. Assuming we don't have a lot of money to spend, we don't have that many options and althought I don't rate Bent, he does score goals and he'd be a stop gap solution. We all know the January transfer window is notorious for over inflated prices and maybe we can look for a more permanent solution during the next window.

Then of course, FSG and Rodgers could be coy about how much we really have to spend in January.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Nov 29 2012, 11:09 PM

He was scoring goals for fun a couple of seasons ago eh? I'd like to see him break into the first team as well but in the games he's played during pre-season and Europa, he failed to make much of an impact. Don't know. Maybe he isn't ready to play at the highest level. I mean Stephen Darby was the captain of our reserves and I felt he'd break into the first team ahead if Martin Kelly. He did feature for the first team before Kelly but ultimately wasn't deemed good enough and he's now at Bradford after being loaned out a couple of times. I do hope Morgan is the real deal though.

It's beginning to dawn on me that his problem is more serious than I first thought. He may actually truly believe that he is engaging in "banter", and fact that he laughes at his own posts/jokes indicates an inferiority complex. He "LOLs" at his own jokes in hope that someone will laugh along to validate it's authenticity as a joke. In conclusion, I've determined it's futile to reason with a person who has no concept of logic and only hears his own voice.

I suppose but I don't see the kid in training so what do I know? I can only trust that the manager knows what he's doing since he's already given several young lads an opportunity.

I share your sentiment.

Yeah and he is 29 which means he'll go where the money's good and where he'll stand a better chance at winning medals.

Whoever we get, he's got to score goals. It's what we're missing, a goal poacher. We can sign players who can create more chances, but we need someone to tuck them away other than Suarez. This is why I believe Darren Bent's name is being thrown around. Like most posters, I'm apprehensive but his club career goals to game ratio stands at 2.38, meaning he scores a goal every 2.38 games, not too shabby. This of course pales in comparison so Suarez who in his career, scores a goal every 1.76 games. Daniel Sturridge scores a goal every 3.65 games. Theo Walcott scores a goal every 5.32 games but he isn't an out-and-out striker to be fair. Higher profile players we've been linked to like Edison Cavani scores a goal every 2.15 games, whilst Huntelaar scores a goal every 1.55 games.

The above is of course a very simplistic way of looking at it and I imagine these numbers are weighed against other variables like transfer fees, age, and so on. We cannot forget that John Henry is an advocate of sabermetrics and has number cruches helping him to assess the risks and benefits of signing a particular player. Huntelaar definitely looks like a viable target given he is as you say in the last year of his contract and will be relatively affordable. Cavani will cost a whole lot more and his goals to games average isn't much better than Bent's who is available on loan so it looks unlikely we'll sign him. Unless another name is thrown into the hat it looks like a tossup between Huntelaar and Bent but like you've said, it's highly unlikely the Dutchman will be interested.

How many teams play in the Europa League though? Will this mean less teams in Europe? Small teams may suffer if it doesm whilst teams in the middle will thrive because the CPL offers about 10 times more TV revenue than the Europa League, forget about the prize money. Definitely good news for us if implemented. It will however lengthen the competition and put some strain on top clubs who will likely have to use their whole squad over the course of a season. Not that we have a problem with that given that Rodgers has already used some 23 different players.

Pros and cons of social media. I think that as ambassadors of the club and sport, players do have to shoulder some social responsibility knowing that just about anyone can add them on twitter or follow their FB page. They have to be very careful of what they post or say, it's part of the job. You don't get paid millions for nothing.

What I said earlier was from a social viewpoint of course. Personally, I do feel people are starting to make mountains out of mole hills, with the latest example being the racism debacles.

I made the same point earlier about how black people can call themselves the "N" word but get upset when other's use it. If you don't want people to use it, then stop using is yourself la.

In the context of football, I think it's worse that the "Kick It Out" campaign highlights every little single infringement that has the slightest racist connotation tied to it. This prompts everyone who reads the papers and watches the TV to be more sensitive to the issue. If you make a big deal out of something, someone else will. Now it's good to highlight the plight of black footballers who receive racise abuse in the form of monkey chants and being thrown banana peels for example, but just punish the offenders instead of letting the whole issue drag on in the media. The more people read about it, the more they get riled up and angry. Come to think about it, I think the media is accountable. Won't be the first time.

Grobbelaar was eccentric but he was also embroiled in a corruption scandal involving Hans Segers and John Fashanu.

On a more positive note, he was in a bar in his native Zimbabwe watching the 2005 final when a group of "Liverpool supporters", turned their backs on the team and started criticising them the moment we went 3-0 down. When we came back, they started to cheer again. Brucie promptly told them to shut up and that they weren't proper Liverpool fans. Fiery bloke indeed. I can't find the source of this story anymore but read it when it happened 7 years ago.

Well I may not have gotten the story 100% right. They could have been jeering the team but the point I was trying to make is that he is still passionate about the club. Personally I was too distraught to say anything when we went 3-0 down.

I think it's safe to say different fans show passions in different ways so there is really no right or wrong. I personally try my best to emulate those seated at the Kop who are constantly behind the team during the game. I know the team can't hear me since I'm nowhere near the stadium but I still think it's counterproductive to criticise them during the game. That should be saved for after. My personal opinion.

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Added on December 1, 2012, 9:56 amIf Istanbul proved anything it was that fan power can go some ways. I've read stories about a few fans leaving the stadium at half-time but the vast majority stayed and sang YNWA at half-time. In the end everyone was a fan, enough of a fan to pay thousands of dollars to travel to Istanbul but why did some leave and others stay at half-time?

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Dec 1 2012, 09:56 AM

Indeed fans are entitled to criticise the team and offer opinions on what went wrong and what can be done differently. However no one likes a serial moaner. Forget about football. Say you had two friends. One who is an optimist and another who isn't happy about anything. I'd bet my last dollar that people would rather hang around the first bloke.

My opinion with our current situation is that it's too soon to be overly critical especially since the owners and manager have asked us to be patient. They are working hard, that much is evident. Now, I don't get behind something for the sake of it. I get behind something when there is a clear vision and direction. A couple of years ago, I had a big argument with several posters here because I had begun to the critical of Rafa but this was during his last two seasons with us. I'm far from being a blind optimist. I don't hate Rafa, I just thought it was time to part company and fans were singing his praises without justification.

Today, I try not to look into every game. I try to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. I don't deny we're in a poor position now but I believe in what Rodgers and the owners are saying. They make sense to me and for that, I'm willing to be patient and give them the time they've asked for.

Like you I always watch the game till the end half expecting a miracle to happen when we're behind. I can only imagine how the players feel when fans start streaming out the stadium when they're losing. Sure I'm not in the stadium and the lads can't see me but its the principle that matters. I mean when you throw a piece of paper into the recycle bin, you don't do it for everyone to see. It's your own conscience that you have to deal with.

Yes, sadly a handful of fans left at half time and were shocked to see that the team had come back when they reached the city. I was organising a viewing party for Carlsberg during the game and there was absolute silence from the 2000 strong crowd at half time but no one left. In the end, we ended up drinking, hugging strangers and dancing in the streets until 630 am. It was a blast. Cars were blaring their horns and fans were running about everywhere. Of all the viewing parties I have organised over a 3 year span, I've never seen one as awesome as the one in 2005.

In this case, it was more productive that the fans were still behind the team.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Dec 1 2012, 10:27 AM

Venting is normal. I can tell ya I'm not a good loser either but I try to suck it up and practice anger management techniques. During the game however, I'm just saying it serves the team better if fans continue to sing and support them. Save the criticism for later in like you say, forums or social media. It's tough and may not be the most natural thing to do especially if you're seething with anger and have a lot of frustration pent up but ask yourself what's best for the team?

Having said that, listening to someone moan all the time does get tiring especially when effort is being out in by the players, management or owners. We can at least show appreciation for that. I personally don't have anything against criticism so long as it is constructive. We are largely, a society that likes to complain. We whine about politics, our pay, our jobs, and our football. Complaining alone gets us nowhere though unless we back it up with action. I don't like the LSCM for example, so along with some other lads, we started MyRAWK. I believe in a fair and just elections so I showed by support during BERSIH. in the context of being a Liverpool fan, we can only do our part to support the team by purchasing original merchandise, watching them play on telly and offering opinions on what can be done better or different like we do now.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Dec 1 2012, 10:45 AM

I remember those days. The highlights programme was outdated. I had to get my scores from buying SHOOT or MATCH magazines. At the back, they gave you a synopsis of every game that was played in every division as well as player ratings. It's how I got to familiarise myself with the many names.

I kept hearing the name John Barnes and he became my favourite Liverpool player. I'd always look for his name and match rating whenever I bought a mag.

Yeah we did but it's died down significantly now as no one has the time anymore. We were actually inspired by Singapore's East of Anfield Supporters Club who like us didn't agree with how the official club was being run. We basically sat down over beers one night and decided to form our own community and organising our own match viewings. We used to have about 300 people attend the big games, which included the 2007 final in Athens. As European finals go it aired at 3 am here and we had to look for a venue willing to open for us. Fortunately we found a place and decked it up with banners, framed pictures and flags. Most were from our own personal collection whilst others we printed or bought. We then had to organised for projector screens and of course a projector. It wasn't uncommon for us to have to fork out our own cash. We would also prepare door gifts for everyone and have our own emcee. We would secure prize sponsors like Chanel for lucky draw sessions. We approached online sports sites to promote us and it was a great time. Our then president, Jonno who still posts here occasionally was even interviewed and featured on Liverpool's official site. Great honour. It was a lot of fun working with the lads, setting up for games and meeting with sponsors but sadly, we're too busy with our own careers now. I only wish the LSCM did more for the fans but it is what it is. In the end, I opted to become an official member and applied online. Got my membership card, token pen and everything.

Unfortunately I don't know anything about Southampton having never seen them okay this season so I wouldn't be able to offer anything productive. With Downing out of sorts however I do imagine that Wisdom will return to rightback and Johnson shifted to the left with Enrique ahead of him. I'm also hoping that Jonjo starts ahead of Henderson but we just might see a midfield trio of Gerrard, Allen and Lucas though I think the latter will start from the bench.

Wow reminds me of my younger days.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Dec 1 2012, 11:19 AM

Forgive me for reminiscing. Here are a couple of banner we printed, one of which was to honour the 96. As you can see, our events consisted of a good mix of girls, dudes of all races. It was a blast and we would always be filled with such pride seeing fans having a good time at our events, singing, cheering and drinking of course!

I really miss those days. We would all meet the night before a big game to deck the place out with memorabilia. Alas, we don't get paid and need to focus on our 9-5s.


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Yeah these days no effort is put into gatherings so a few of us just meet up for games la.

Anyway, I managed to dig up Jono's interview. He was featured in the "Reds Around the World" segment.

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-new...-world-malaysia

It's hard to imagine that we met online some 9 years ago. It wasn't on LYN but rather on RAWK hence MyRAWK. We spoke to the admins about using the name and they were gracious enough to allow us to do so. We spoke on the forum and all decided to meet up and that was that. It's why you always see me encouraging posters to meet up because it is the same way I met the MyRAWK lads and we still watch games together until today. You tend to realise that any hostility online disappears when you meet face to face. Some lads like Triple02 and Monstar I met from LYN. Koolspyda , Everdying. Not sure who I've missed out on. Actually I think I met Koolspyda on ZTH!

Like Jono mentioned in his interview, we were joined by Ian Rush once and I believe Michael Thomas joined in once but I wasn't there at the time. Jono was giving him stick about 'that goal'. I think we even tried to get Ian Ayre to join in as he was CEO of Total Sports Asia in Malaysia at the time.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Dec 1 2012, 11:42 AM

Thing is you need people passionate enough to run it especially since you don't get paid for it, and I can tell ya, not many are willing to put in the work. I myself can ill afford to do so now since my work schedule is erratic.

Somehow hanging out online isn't the same has having a bevy in real life. I'm still old school when it comes to this. I'd much prefer hanging out face to face. To me, the phone is only used for arranging gatherings, not to have discussions on. People are often not themselves online. It's more genuine to see someone in the flesh.

Mr Moz works weekends man! Seeing him is like seeing Haley's comet. Triple02 is a cool dude though he hardly posts anymore. Like Petre, he comes from Penang but moved to KL to work and sent me a PM, wanting to meet up with some KL Reds for games. Jono can't stop talking in person. Strong mouth muscles that one.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Dec 1 2012, 12:01 PM

Off to 1U now. If anyone's there and you see a bloke in a this seasons home kit with JFT96 behind, do say "hi". Later.