Recently by Faith Fulcher

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Last night, Liverpool Football Club began, yet another fight to try and reclaim fourth place and entrance into the Champions League. The game was against Portsmouth, who had earlier in the season beaten us at Fratton Park. There was of course the usual speculation in the press as to whether or not it would happen again, as the Liverpool team of late had been totally substandard. Portsmouth though as a club has their own problems at the moment, having been pushed into administration and this would in all probably affect the players, who knew that they could be sold if and when the administrator felt it necessary.

Anfield appeared to be rather empty as the television coverage started and it was noted that the Kop was extremely quiet. I guess, and any loyal supporter will tell you that Liverpool Football Club and players in many people's lives have become in a way like a mother worrying about a sick child. We have watched it lurch from one disaster to another as our league and European form has faulted. At this point in the evening it was anyone's guess as to which way things would turn out.

Kick off arrived and as the team come out as usual captained by Stevie G, the first mutterings of noise came from the Kop, but there was definitely something missing. Rafa Benitez had for some reason finally decided to throw caution to the wind and played an attacking team which included another rare start for Aquilani. Liverpool appeared to be very nervous as they started with high balls going everywhere and at one point it appeared that Reina was having problems. He seemed very jittery for a short time. The match continued with Portsmouth giving away several free kicks but the lads seemed to be unable to finish them and score that much needed opening goal.

As the line goes in a famous Bob Dylan song. Last night was the night that Liverpool supporters came face to face with the bare reality of what is going on within the team at the moment.

Wigan versus Liverpool, was not just another of those must win games - it was a game that we should have won outright within minutes of being on the pitch. In fact everyone I spoke too appeared to be in a buoyant mood. This was the game that would confirm our position as fourth in the table. Sadly though, it became obvious in minutes that the team would have preferred to be elsewhere.

It was a good line up that consisted of Reina, Mascherano, Carragher, Kyriakos, Insua, Rodrigeux, Gerrard, Lucas, Benayoun, Kuyt and Torres. The substitutes for the evening were Cavalieri, Johnson, Agger, Babel, Ngog, Aquiliani and Riera.
Referee for the evening was Andre Mariner.

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Were the first words I heard this morning after switching on The Sunday Supplement. It was quickly explained that this was in fact the title of an article published in this morning's edition of The Sunday Times and given by Jamie Carragher.

Jamie as we all know is one of the main stays of the Liverpool team along with Stevie G. Unfortunately, age is something that eventually catches up with the most famous of footballers and he is now 32 years old. Because of this, it has been revealed that any new contract talks will not now take place until the summer.

Jamie, who has been a magnificent servant to the club, has revealed that he will not hesitate in walking away if there are any doubts about extending his contract by Rafa Benitez, Christian Purslow and the owners.

Or is it? Today we saw the Liverpool Football Club of old emerge from the shadows. Every player this afternoon played their heart out and it was one of those matches that turned out to be a pleasure to watch.

At a quarter past two this afternoon, I received the team news and immediately my heart was lifted, knowing that Blackburn can be a hard team to beat. It was Reina, Mascherano, Aurelio, Agger, Caragher, Lucas, Gerrard, Benayoun, Kuyt, Rodrigeux and Torres. The Substitutes were Cavalieri, Aquiliani, Babel, Insua, Ngog, Kelly and Ayala. The referee for the afternoon was Alan Wiley.

The teams came out into a stadium that was in full voice, which was wonderful to hear, after the quiet weeks that we have witnessed recently. Blackburn kicked off to start the game and almost immediately Pepe Reina was in action and I must admit at this point, he seemed a little unsure of himself. This was not going to stop Liverpool though, they were in for the kill right from the start, their passing seemed to have improved overnight and there was very little that Blackburn could do except fight for the ball. The old Blackburn emerged very quickly and it was not long before Salgado earned Blackburn their first yellow card of the afternoon for bringing down Fernando Torres

Thursday night saw the team begin their latest Europa cup adventure on foreign shores. They had travelled to Romania for the second leg of their opening game in the competition against Unirea. The game was being played in the national stadium because UEFA felt that Unirea's stadium would not be big enough to cope with the interest that the match would hopefully generate.

The team was as expected, Reina, Insua, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Lucas, Masherano, Babel, Benayoun, Gerrard and Ngog. Substitutes were Cavalieri, Aquilani, Torres, Aurelio, Kyriaskos, Kuyt and Kelly.

The game opened in a very wet and unfriendly looking stadium. There was very little noise from the crowd and to be honest it certainly did not seem like a European night. The television commentator remarked that there were actually people in front of each stand trying to get a response from the supporters.

Unirea kicked off, but Liverpool quickly gained possession of the ball, with Skrtel getting his first touch. Unfortunately, though it was eventually wasted with nobody to meet it. Unirea had gained their first free kick but with the pitch being slippery, it was miss-kicked and a chance was lost. Stevie G did have a chance for goal but the jinx that has befallen him this season still appeared to be around and he missed yet again