Liverpool 07/08 Season Thread

Planning approval for the final version of the stadium is expected by April. That's the key element to Hicks involvement and the main reason he is involved.

Money really won't be an issue for that element either.

I've been to Anfield 7-8 times this past year. As for Hicks, he told me that Lucas plays with too much uncertainty. Needs to make decisions sooner and with more confidence. Hicks is quickly becoming knowledgeable about the game and the passion. His own kids have become fanatical Liverpool supporters. Not in their defense, but just an observation.

My own thought is that Lucas does tend to play like a quarterback with happy feet. Great potential; needs to find himself on the pitch. Can be infuriating to watch.

Skrtel best game so far was against West Ham. Showed his speed. Really good acquisition.

As to owners, .......at best, they will simply be tolerated. At worst, hated. Not much in the middle. Liverpool has a bit of anti-Yank mentality among some. I personally don't trust the Dubai folks out of my own sight.

In the words of Al Davis ....but for Liverpool .....Just win baby ....and the rest takes care of itself.
 
DHH ...I'm not a GG fan. I've known him for 30 years when I was cutting my teeth in the banking business in Chicago. He brought the deal to Hicks and Hicks at first said no, but then went for it.

Hicks is no angel in the matter, but this 50/50 deal is absolute bollocks. The club needs a guiding influence ..... ;-) like you or me. I know for a fact that the Klinsman deal started with GG making contact on his own thought process. 50/50 sucks.

For the last three months .....IMO ....Rick Parry and now Amanda Staveley have been using the press to try and force Hicks and GG to sell. Because GG has little capital, he has little choice. Hicks has really warmed to the idea of being part of the English equivalency to the New York Yankees. I cannot blame him. It's the most exciting sports club in the world in my humble opinion.

I could be wrong, but I think he'll end up in control with a new minority partner ...whether that is Dubai or some investment group. This scenario is what is needed at Liverpool regardless the majority owner.

We must get the new stadium built.

As for Tommy's decision to go to the Sandon, I do agree with you. I told him that it was not the thing to do, but he's a kid at heart and just wanted to show his passion to the other Liverpool fans. It was a bad idea.

Interestingly, many of the folks at the Sandon were pleased that he had the balls to show up and talk to them. He evened laughed at the "This is our pub ...get out of our pub" songs. Nothing bad really happened other than when departing they noticed someone had kicked in the door of their car.

As for me, Anfield is a very special place. Unfortuately, it's reputation is built more on history than current fact. It's currently a sad relic of former glory unless it's a mid-week CL knockout game.

In closing, if the Hicks family is given time to get the stadium going and to show their true colors, they will eventually be "tolerated". Particularly if the 19 year drought can be quenched.

Liverpool Football Club deserve to have the best of everything. I'm willing to give the guy that was instrumental in bringing Mack Brown to Texas a true shot at making the LFC deal work ...and he and I and you ALL hope Rafa will stay.
 
CPL,
Once again thanks for your insight. I love reading all your posts about the club I love. Very enlightening.

Interesting notes about the GG/TH relationship - curious that GG was painted as the more angelic of the two by the media. I recall several articles about GG which highlighted his embrace of the Montreal culture and the Canadiens' history. Not sure if it was the lack of similar types of articles on Hicks or message board posts portraying him in a poor light, but I always felt that Gillett was the more level-headed of the two (mainly in regards to Rafa and the club's history/tradition). It was probably just due to the fact that Hicks was the more outspoken of the two.

If Gillett were the first to contact Klinsmann, particularly without first consulting Hicks about it, that is just incredible. Hicks has taken the brunt of the PR snafu on that one (again, probably because he was the one who made public comments about it) and it is the main reason why fans on the Mersey are so upset with him. Again, media manipulation seems to be the culprit.

It looks like DIC is going to come in as a minority owner, which as you point out might be just what the club needs. Ownership is not a democracy and there needs to be someone calling the shots. It would be great if DIC injected the much-needed capital while Hicks negotiates a new stadium and grows the commercial success of the club.

It's been a crazy few months following the ownership saga and I keep going back and forth on how I feel about it. Glad you're able to give us some personal insight and provide a unique perspective.

From what you've written, it sounds like the Hicks family has really embraced the club, despite the bumpy ride so far. I respect anyone with the balls to go into a Reds pub given the circumstances and unpopularity of the family at the time. Glad it wasn't too bad and that he was able to win some fans over.

And, in on-the-pitch news, we've rolled off 5 games on the trot since the Barnsley disaster (which doesn't look as bad given their defeat of Chelsea) and head off to Milan tomorrow with a huge advantage. Score one and we're through, basically. Hope it's a pretty open game and that Torres can keep up his sparkling form. Masch being fit is huge for us.

Come on you Reds!
 
Bloody Hell . . . Monster's in, but Xabi is out.
The Link

Rafa Benitez has confirmed Xabi Alonso will play no part in the club's UEFA Champions League clash against Internazionale on Tuesday.

Liverpool head out to Milan with a 2-0 lead but in the knowledge they will have to make do without the services of Xabi Alonso.

The influential Spanish schemer's girlfriend has gone into labour, with Benitez having accepted family affairs take priority over football.

"Xabi wanted to stay behind. He had said he would come if things were okay, but we couldn't wait, wait, wait, and I now have to use my squad."

Benitez was also able to confirm Javier Mascherano's place in the squad after he recovered from a groin injury, and the Argentinian will almost certainly start at the San Siro.

The combative midfielder will slot straight back into the side, with Lucas Leiva expected to keep his place in Benitez's starting XI.
 
AMAZING FACT:
I was rewatching my copy of "History of LFC" DVD last night, and I was really struck by one stat:

The '78-'79 side scored 83 in the 1st division and only allowed 16. That's a GD of 67.

Unreal. Best team ever?
 
Some players just know where the goal is. What an incredible turn and shot by El Nino.

A bit fortunate to have a player sent off in both, but last leg we were controlling the match before Materazzi went off (deservedly, IMO) and Inter was incredibly wasteful this leg with 11 out there. I thought the second yellow on Burdisso was a bit dodgy, but we capitalized on it.

8 in his last 5 games, 25 in 34 in all competitions. Six wins out of six. We're hitting our form as we next face Reading, then a stretch of ManU away, the derby at Anfield, then Arsenal at Emirates.

The core of our team is playing really well and we're getting good performances out of guys like Skrtel, Hyypia and Lucas.
 
I was ready to kill DirecTV last night. I stayed away from the computer all afternoon and set down last night (a bundle of nerves) to watch the Match. I check the DVR - NO MATCH. [Furious screaming ensues].

Checked the history - "Recording Canceled".

Shout furiously at the kids: "WHO THE HELL MESSED WITH MY DVR?!?!?!"

After getting no satisfaction there, I reviewed the cancellation message. "Recording canceled because program was no longer available." Here's what happened: as late as Monday night I checked on my recordings and this game was listed as "UEFA Champions League: Teams TBA". Sometime between than and kickoff, they changed the title to add the team names; thus canceling my recording. I guess next time I'll know to use the manual recording option.

After all this, I was forced to hit the internet to find out the score. I felt like I was playing roulette with the deed on my house (bet on red, of course). SkySports popped up. I couldn't look. Had to get my wife to tell me. Delirious yelling (happy kind) and whooping occurred.

Downloading the extended highlights off e-Season Ticket now. All's well that ends well!

C'MON YOU REDS!!!
 
Looking forward to the draw tomorrow. At this point, EVERY team is wary of drawing LFC. You have to love that.

....and we owe an absolute thumping to Reading. They were instrumental in our second slump of the season. Get past Reading and the next three PL games will define our PL season.

Come on you REDS!
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I'll be traveling to Houston for the weekend. Anyone know a pub in the NW suburbs that will be open for brunch and showing the Reading match?

We got the Gooners, with a CSKA London likely for the semis AGAIN::

The Link

In further news, Agger's done for the season. He'll be having surgery on his damn foot. I hope the rumors about him having a coke problem are not true. He has a brilliant future.
 
Liverpool has an U19 team in the Dallas Cup this week ....playing in the Super Group.

First time they've ever been in the tournament.

Dallas Cup


....and it's always a good day when the Toffees lose. Really helps the 'pool.
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Scathing interview from George Gillett

CPL - care to weigh in on this at all?

I think what GG said resonates with a lot of Liverpool fans, true or not. Hicks has been made out to be the bad guy, both by the media and by the fans, due to his PR gaffes from a few months back and Gillett's statements play into those thoughts/fears.

I will say that I've thought that Gillett was the more tactful one throughout the American ownership tenure, but a lot of the anecdotes from CPL convinced me otherwise. Gillett's track record, at least what I've read from Canadiens' fans, is a bit more proven in terms of respect a club/community's culture and traditions, but I do think that Hicks has done a lot of good for the club. Now it's just getting bitter and nasty and Gillett airing this dirty laundry to the press smacks of a shrewd PR move.

I still don't full trust DIC and would rather have a sole owner, be it Hicks or Gillett. Clubs are not run via democracy and we need one guy calling the shots. I think both Hicks and Gillett are more qualified to expand the Liverpool brand and secure a stadium deal, and that's what important at this juncture.

Either way, this thing looks to be far from over.

Oh, and we've got the most important Merseyside derby in years this weekend.
 
Well, I can't say I was too excited about the derby, having watched the Horns lose to Memphis before putting it on, but a win is a win and those were 3 crucial points.

Always good sticking it to the Bitters and 6 points from 6 is a good way to do it. They've got the easier remaining schedule, but they're 5 points back and have an uphill battle.

And now onto the North London marathon...
 
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