Results tagged “Larry Moran” from Liverpool FC News, Discussion & Debate | Liverpool Banter

It's probably a bit early to write off our Premiership chances completely as I think this year the points total to win it may be a bit lower. The improvement Spurs have shown and the advent of Man City may mean the so-called Big Four don't have things all their own way. That said, last night's performance against a mediocre Villa side does not bode well for things to come.

As against Spurs, Liverpool especially in the first half, offered nothing except a completely flat, pedestrian performance. The early promise and chances created fizzled out and then when Lucas needlessly fouled Petrov just outside the box then obligingly headed the subsequent free-kick into our own net you knew it was going to be one of those nights.

Just before half time you could see Villa's second goal coming. Shocking marking from a corner and we were two down before the interval refreshments. It was tempting at that point to order a cup of hemlock, no sugar.

Sunday's defeat against Tottenham was annoying and depressing for a number of reasons. We are already playing catch-up with the rest of the Big Four and the quality of the squad was clearly exposed at White Hart Lane. In the absence of Reira, Ryan Babel offered very little and you have to wonder just when the young Dutchman will deliver the goods.

The first half performance from the whole side was as bad as we've seen for some time. Even Carragher looked to be rattled and his performance was hardly enhanced by the needless collision between him and his partner Martin Skrtel. The shuddering impact between the two eventually meant Skrtel had to be substituted by the youngster Ayala, which is not ideal in the noisy cauldron of White Hart Lane in a season opener.

We hardly deserved to come away with a result but referee Phil Dowd seemed to be favouring Spurs with his decisions. For the majority of the game it seemed you had to have a red shirt on to attract a yellow card or a lecture from the portly official.

Remember back in the days when everything about George and Tom was new and we all thought that we'd be entering a whole new era of investment in a new stadium and new players to take us forward? Back before the harsh reality of the Hicks and Gillett stewardship hit us like a bad smell?

George Gillett was quizzed about potential transfer spending and just what money there would be to invest. As George obviously knew nothing about top class football players, he came out with some statement to demonstrate that they were prepared to spend whatever money was required. Something along the lines of "If Rafa said he wanted to buy 'Snoogy Doogy' we would back him"

It caused a lot of amusement at the time but as time has gone by, sadly we have had very few opportunities since to crack a smile where Hicks and Gillett are concerned.

It was great to get back to Anfield and enjoy the buzz of a home game again. The visit of Atletico Madrid coupled with a warm day in L4 was the perfect way to ease our way towards the new season. I must admit to being slightly jealous of Arsenal's supporters, not only do they have their new stadium built, they can now enjoy the annual event of their pre-season tournament at the Emirates. It might be nice for Liverpool's global support to get a glimpse of the players they only usually see on TV but it's the home support that will be there for the team all season and pre-season games are a great opportunity to take youngsters along for their first experience of Anfield.

There was news this week of a potential new shirt sponsor once Carlsberg end their association with us at the end of the season, so it seems revenue-generation wheels are turning at LFC, let's hope they turn enough to supply Rafa with enough cash to compete further at the top end of the market and get some building work started on Stanley park.

We've already welcomed Glen Johnson to Anfield and we now also greet the arrival of Alberto Aquilani from Roma to replace that Spanish guy that went to Madrid. What was his name again? Alonso, that's it. Judging by some of the reactions to my last piece on here about Alonso's departure you'd have thought I'd beaten Bambi to death with Tiny Tim's crutch.

It seems very clear now that Xabi Alonso wants to leave LFC and go and join the New Galacticos at Real Madrid. Real's representatives keep on talking about this price and that price yet Alonso is still a contracted Liverpool player?

It seems contracts these days are just ways to ensure that the players get the opportunity to renegotiate their wages up another few thousand quid at regular intervals.

In the case of Alonso, with one eye on the currency fluctuations between the Euro and the Pound and the other on UK tax rates, it seems home is where the more lucrative heart is.

The news that one Michael James Owen, once of this parish, will now be pulling on the red shirt of Manchester United is not likely to go down too well in the Red half (or is that two-thirds?) of this city.

It seems that the press are once again greeting a Sir Alex Ferguson signing as another stroke of genius, a shrewd move, a cunning plan.

In truth, the news that Mr.Owen had signed for United was greeted in our house with the same gasps of astonishment as the fact that bears do in fact answer nature's call in the woods and that snuff has rocketed up another penny a ton.

So it looks like Rafa has made his first major signing of the summer. Glen Johnson looks to be arriving for £17m. Johnson is a good player, an England international, good going forward and will add a lot to the team. As soon as his signing is announced however, Rafa has to defend his decision to pay so much for a full-back. Amazing, it seems whatever Benitez does in the transfer market attracts criticism.

UEFA's daft squad selection rules mean that all clubs are looking to sign good, young English players, so obviously the price goes up. I am sure if Chelsea had managed to re-sign Johnson, the press would have saluted "Carlo Ancelotti's transfer shrewdness". Benitez gets asked if he paid over the odds.

Anyway, it's been a week of more developments both on and off the pitch at Anfield. My mate called me to discuss Life, The Universe and Everything - LFC essentially - and told me of the arrival of our new managing director, Christian Purslow. He asked me if I knew anything about him, when I said no, he suggested that "he sounds like a character out of Last of the Summer Wine".

The fixtures for the forthcoming season are out tomorrow and as yet we've not seen any concrete transfer activity at Liverpool.

Rumours continue to circulate that Glen Johnson from Portsmouth is on his way to Anfield but after the issue with Gareth Barry I'll believe it when I actually see it I'm afraid. Barry had a last-minute ambition by-pass and joined Megabucks City so let's hope Johnson signs on the dotted line.

All football fans tend to finish the previous season and immediately pine for the next one, but the amount of games currently being played around the world and being televised here is helping keep the footy cravings at bay. The Confederations Cup coupled with the exploits of England's under- 21's are enough to keep most of us satisfied and her indoors threatening to unplug the telly.

Wikipedia states that "The Keystone Cops was a series of silent film comedies about a totally incompetent group of policemen". We can use a few of the same words to describe the current regime at Liverpool Football Club. Hicks and Gillett, our very own Keystone Kops are certainly mostly silent and on the face of it, totally incompetent. Whether we can describe what is going on at Anfield as "comedy" is open to debate. Certainly, it seems the rest of the football world is having a good laugh at our expense.

Liverpool FC have reported a record turnover of just over £159M but sat behind LFC there are two further companies, Kop Football Holdings which controls the club and Kop Football ( Cayman ) Limited which owns Kop Football Holdings. Clear? The major problem we have seems to be that the club itself is not generating sufficient cash to pay both the interest on the loans and provide money for players.

Bit of a problem that you might think.

That's finally settled then. One of the longest drawn-out transfer sagas has at last come to a close and Villa's midfield maestro has achieved his goal of playing Champions League football. Man City gave him a Playstation to play it on presumably.

Apparently his open letter to Villa fans stated he was concerned he would "go stale" if he stayed there. I knew there'd be bread involved somewhere.

Liverpool fans are hardly likely to lose a great deal of sleep at Barry's decision. He is a good player yes and personally I think he would have been a good signing as he can cover a lot of positions but he's made his choice.

Anyone else feel just a tinge of jealousy last night as Barcelona and Man United walked out on to the pitch in Rome? I must say I did and a certain amount of disappointment too, as I'd dreamed of another trip there this year after the glories of '77 and '84.

It was again a spectacular occasion and it must be said Barca were well worth the win. I'd discussed the game with a mate who is a Man United fan and couldn't find it in me to wish them luck - he knows me well enough for that not to happen. I was surprised that United were so flat in terms of their performance, I'd expected them to be stronger than Barcelona.

Once the dust settled though I began to wonder again about just what might have been for us this season. Beating Man United home and away, finishing the season with fewer defeats than them and more goals scored.

It was a strange afternoon at Anfield. On a beautiful sunny day there was some disappointment around as dreams of winning the Premiership had already gone but there was a real desire amongst the supporters to thank Rafa and the team for a good season. There was also the matter of saying farewell to one Sami Hyypia.

The Kop tribute mosaic for Sami before kick-off was excellent and certainly deserved after an impeccable decade at Anfield for the Mighty Finn.

We've been expecting United to be crowned champions for a few weeks now, especially since Howard Webb gave them a get out of jail free card in their win against Spurs. Most of the papers are seeing that game as one of the pivotal ones now. Strange they didn't think so a few weeks back?

Anyway, the fact that United have now equalled our record of 18 league titles is sickening for every Liverpool supporter. It's an amazing 42 years since United and Liverpool were level in terms of title wins.

We travelled to the Midlands in the knowledge that the title challenge was over for another year. West Brom had plenty to play for, a slim chance of Premiership survival gave them some early desire and pressure. However, as soon as Gerrard capitalised on a defensive slip to chip their keeper you sensed that it was all over.

There were a lot of memories stirred at Anfield last night. Obviously many of them were painful beyond belief but the overriding emotion generated by the evening was one of joy. Joy at seeing so many of our ex-players once again playing on the hallowed turf but also joy at knowing that twenty years after Hillsborough that a simple word still unites all Liverpool supporters. That word is Justice.

The game itself was arranged to commemorate the twenty year anniversary of that awful day in Sheffield in 1989 but it was also to generate funding for the Marina Dalglish Appeal. In particular helping to generate funding to open a new radiotherapy unit on Merseyside.

The match had the full backing of the Hillsborough Family Support Group. It is typical of both our city and of the families affected by Hillsborough that however much the simple human right of Justice has been denied them over the last two decades, that charity and giving was at the heart of this event.

Another weekend goes by and yet we are still waiting for United to crack. Liverpool's quite easy victory at West Ham had us all anticipating the outcome of the Manchester derby. Could City at least draw at the Theatre of Merchandising? Nope. United pick up another three points and claw a couple more goals back off the goal difference. As things stand, United can have the Premiership wrapped up before we even kick off against West Brom next Sunday. Not a pleasant prospect and given that their next two opponents this week are Wigan and Arsenal you would have to say it's looking increasingly likely now.

They only need a maximum of four points to become champions and as Steve Bruce's Wigan are virtually founder-members of ManUnitedCannonFodder.com and Arsenal look to be a dispirited bunch at present, things don't look too good. Arsene Wenger's "wonder-team" were well and truly stuffed 4-1 by Chelsea on Sunday and it showed again just how jammy their recent draw was with us at Anfield. It will be something of a kick in the teeth if Liverpool finish the season having only lost two league games but with no silverware to show off.

Reports at the weekend suggested that Rafa would have maybe £60M to spend in the transfer market in the summer? I'll believe that when I see it, however the Euromillions jackpot was won on Friday night. £110M to a ticket sold in Madrid so maybe Rafa came into a few quid. There were also rumours circulating the city that the club had actually been sold, that we would be moving to a new 80,000 seater stadium away from Stanley Park etc etc. Again, do you believe any of this or is it that we are all just desperate for some good news rather than waiting in vain for United to slip? Still, we have to keep the faith. While it's still possible to finish as Champions then we have to keep going.

I suppose we all had a good laugh last night at Chelsea's expense? It was tapas washed down with rioja on the banks of the Mersey. We shook our maracas as Drogba went crackers. On reflection though do we not all have at least a sense of unease at the way the game played out at Stamford Bridge? After all, had it not been for Chelsea's killer third away goal at Anfield it could have been us on the receiving end of some of those refereeing decisions last night.

Chelsea claim they should have had at least 4 penalties. I can't think of many games where at least three of the incidents we saw would not have resulted in a referee pointing to the spot. Malouda being wrestled to the floor. The foul on Drogba, where replays showed his shirt being pulled off him in the box before he fell. (Drogba falling over - no real surprise there of course) Then the handball by Pique when Anelka pushed the ball around him? If any one of these is given then Chelsea are two-nil up and Barca, who have had the lion's share of possession but not caused Cech to make a single save would seem to be out. None of them are given and therefore Barcelona, only needing one goal to get through, remain in the tie. Then, in the 93rd minute Barca score and that's it. Game over.

The plastic-flag brigade bite the dust, a result greeted with much satisfaction I'm sure in many parts of the country and not just on the red half of Merseyside. To add insult to injury there were then some reports that the referee from Norway, Tom Henning Ovrebo, allegedly admitted to a UEFA official after the match that he'd "made mistakes". Shades of Howard Webb?

It's not likely the way Newcastle's season seems to be going. The Championship seems the likely destination for The Toon and we'll certainly miss our meetings with the cannon-fodder from the North East. A look around their starting eleven tells its own tale. Viduka, Smith, Butt, Duff etc are all good players but in fairness they are past their best. At the centre of their defence, Coloccini and Bassong were awful. How depressed will Michael Owen be that he can't get a starting place in this side? Liverpool spent the first twenty minutes of each half easily containing periods of Newcastle pressure before picking them off with ease.

Had it not been for their keeper having a cracking game and the intervention of their crossbar then we could have won by eight or ten goals. Alan Shearer agreeing to taking over at the helm of this club is akin to agreeing to taking over the captaincy of the Titanic the day after the iceberg spotter got made redundant. The only smile Shearer got all day was when a largely silent Kop serenaded him with "you should have stayed on the telly".

Indeed he should. He's gone from Match of the Day to Looney Toons in one move. The Newcastle fans sang loudly for most of the game - mostly songs about themselves and their self-proclaimed uber-loyalty it has to be said. However, they, and their club will need loyalty if they go down. Will they get it or will it be as one guy commented after the game that "most of that lot will be playing for Birmingham next season"? Newly-promoted Birmingham would do well to avoid any fire sale at Newcastle, particularly if one Joey Barton is available at a hack-down price.

Oh well, that's alright then. No sweat, don't give it another thought Howard. Sit down son, take the weight off your whistle.

Somehow, I don't think that will be Rafa Benitez' response to the news that Howard Webb has admitted "I made a mistake" by awarding Man United that penalty against Spurs. Plenty of other people are also of the opinion that "the penalty didn't really make any difference, United would have won anyway" blah blah blah.

I suppose then that Smicer's goal against AC Milan didn't make a difference on that night in 2005? That Dudek's save from Shevchenko didn't make a difference? Liverpool would have won in Istanbul anyway? Right?

The drive across to the east coast to Hull was a strange one. Thoughts were occupied on the one hand of just how important it was to get a victory but on the other, there was a nagging doubt that after the thrilling 4-4 against Arsenal, even a victory would not prove to be enough for us in the end. Also, the fact that we were approaching the end of the campaign so close to the top spot and having only lost two games gave both a sense of pride but also one of real frustration. Dropped points at home against teams like Hull may ultimately cost us the Premiership title and another season may well be passing us by.

Hull are in deep trouble after their excellent start to the season and if the game was important to us, then it was no less important to the people of the city at the far end of the M62. That was made crystal clear by the local paper devoting front page banner headlines to the game and fully ten pages of their Friday night edition to the match.

The KC stadium looks the business from the outside but inside the stadium itself it looks a bit unfinished. Two "sides" of the modern identikit bowl shape appearing well appointed and equipped but the other two sides just look like a collection of seats with a roof. Mind you, at least they have a new purpose-built stadium. We are still having to make do with artist's impressions.

ANOTHER chance to put some daylight between us and Man United and Chelsea but another chance wasted.

Stoke have a decent home record but are everyone's idea of Premier League cannon-fodder this year.

Whereas Hull have won admirers for their adventurous football, Stoke's only contribution of note to the season so far has been the long throws of Rory Delap. Enough said.