Liverpool Fc @ Anfield - Reds Supporters Gatherings

[coolfire69]

Got this off RAWK... As usual, an extremely well-written piece from Paul Tomkins:

An Open Letter to George Gillett and Tom Hicks, 26.11.07

Dear George and Tom,

I'd just like to express how depressed and upset I am at the continuing uncertainty surrounding the club, and say that I'd love to hear some reassurances that the differences will be settled ASAP - and that Rafa Benítez has your full support and backing.

While I do think there are two sides to any story, and I appreciate the difficulties of running any club (balancing the books, keeping fans happy, and dealing with opinionated, strong-minded individuals), what I've heard these past few days leads me increasingly to believe you might be missing the point regarding football transfers, and in so doing, undermining the manager, whether you meant to or not.

You may not have realised, perhaps through cultural differences, that telling a manager of an English football team to 'just coach the side' is a kind of insult.

I am not about to make accusations, or go on some personal tirade against you both. Particularly with a welter of hearsay and little actual hard evidence (as yet) fuelling the media frenzy. Clearly all is not well, but at the same time, is it all 'lost'?

I just want to know that the club I love is in safe hands; I feel that is the case on the pitch, but that's something relatively easy to assess; assessing how a club is being run behind the scenes from our side of the fence is much more difficult, because we don't get to see what happens, and only hear snippets of information which is often wrapped up in rumour and hearsay.

I felt Rafa's tone after the Newcastle game was fairly conciliatory, in saying you had the best interests of the club at heart, and that as you were new you needed time to settle into the roles, like he'd expect with a new player.You are no strangers to running sports teams, but you cannot match Rafa's knowledge when it comes to football. Few men can. In this sense, you are the rookies, and you would surely acknowledge that.

And if it is indeed true that you don't (yet) fully understand how the transfer system in Europe works, then it seems to me that this needs to be remedied as soon as possible. This is a fundamental basic of the game. I would like to think it's a misunderstanding, and that there's been some transatlantic miscommunication. I hope I'm not being naive in holding out some hope that this is the case.

Also, I understood that Foster Gillett was going to be acting as your eyes, ears and the in-house go-between in Liverpool, but reports suggest that he is not in place?

For the record, I can't think of one successful English club who has chopped and changed its managers, and which hasn't given the man in charge of the team full control. A club like Newcastle has become a laughing stock because of this short-sighted approach. Continuity and stability are paramount to football success.

There have been some woeful attempts at Director of Football-type affairs, and the only time I know that this type of arrangement has worked was when David Dein bought players at Arsenal, but + crucially - at Arsene Wenger's behest.

Across North London, Spurs + whose net spend this summer was greater than Liverpool's (as was Manchester United and Manchester City's) - were spectacularly undone by the appointment of a Technical Director whose views differed from the manager's. Too many cooks...

I understand a natural fear you might have - that of sensing the head of the team possesses too much power - but English football works this way. You need one man with one vision to hold the wheel and steer the ship; not rule by committee. And he needs to be so much more than just a coach.

And any manager worth his salt a) will be wary of working for a club that does not give him full power in all football matters, and b) will likely be as difficult a character as Benítez, if not more so.

Top managers are not easy men to work with. Ferguson, Mourinho, Shankly - none made life easy for the board, and none took kindly to being told what to do, but each delivered the goods in the end. Arsene Wenger is the same, although he was able to build his Arsenal empire with the full backing of David Dein. Had he been told otherwise, he would not have hung around.

Stability is key for any successful club. Rafa Benítez is doing far, far, far better at this stage of his tenure than Alex Ferguson was at United. You cannot imagine how much better he is doing. Ferguson failed to win a trophy until the end of his 4th season, and his average league position after five seasons was a woeful 9th. His finishes were 11th, 13th, 2nd, 13th and 6th. Compare this with 5th, 3rd, 3rd, plus an FA Cup and two Champions League Finals, one of which was so famously won, and you can see the chasm.

Replacing Rafa now, when he has assembled his best squad and had his best league start, really would make no sense to me - win the game in hand and the Reds would be 2nd, and still unbeaten. The team is set up to work in his methods. The players fit his mould. And from what I can tell, they have the utmost respect for him. This is crucial.

And while I do think there are perhaps a handful of managers in football who are in the same league as Rafa, I do not think their methods are necessarily suited to Liverpool FC, while I definitely don't think they could make as much of this particular squad as Rafa can. They would want to bring in their own new players, which will be costly, and introduce new systems, which will put things back.

In terms of money spent, Benítez's overall transfer record is outstanding. All managers make mistakes, but most of his have been cheap ones who were quickly traded. What he has got for his money has been top-rate. The squads of United and Chelsea cost at least twice as much as Liverpool's, and are full of £15m-£30m players, yet is there really much of a gap in class? Meanwhile, Arsenal are making use of young players they procured many years ago.

Fan opinion is almost exclusively siding with Rafa. While there has also been some unhelpful, xenophobic anti-American rhetoric, which just clouds the issue, you need to understand how unpopular this situation is making you amongst the Anfield faithful, and how high spirits are running.

When you took over the club there was a surprising amount of goodwill. I don't mean surprising in that I felt at the time that you deserved anything less, but surprising in that any new owners could perhaps have expected a rougher ride. As fans it seems our patience had been worn down with almost three years without a solution to the investment issue, and a series of desperately unsuitable suitors chancing their arms. Compared with Thaksin Shinawatra, you seemed a good bet.

Maybe there are very valid reasons, and I will try to keep as open a mind as possible, but I am struggling to know why the matter cannot be discussed and an attempt at resolving it made before the 16th December.

I have to admit that such a delay worries me. The issues at hand - be it laying the foundations for transfers well ahead of the window (as all teams do), or repairing the relationship with Rafa - seem rather too pressing for that. I don't see how it can wait....(cont'd next post...)

[coolfire69]

...(cont'd here...) If failure to get through the league stage of the Champions League is crucial to the financial planning for the transfer window, I can understand that part of your thinking. On the other hand, if it is crucial as to whether or not Benítez is fired, I cannot understand that for one minute. Before Rafa was here, we weren't even qualifying for the competition, let alone reaching two finals.

Rafa spoke out after Athens, but you seemed to understand his frustrations. You went on to help the club secure some fantastic players over the summer, although the net spend - while healthy - was not remarkable. One further £7m target - Gabriel Heinze - was missed very late in the day, so it's clear from the summer that such a defender was needed, while any manager will always be assessing his squad as to how he can strengthen it.

Having spent the past three years studiously observing Rafa's methods, I've come to realise just how good he is. I believe he is a football visionary, and what he is building at Liverpool will be something really special.

For instance, it's now seven months since we conceded a goal from a corner or free-kick delivered into the box (excluding the 'reserve' team fielded in the Carling Cup). Zonal marking was widely mocked in 2004, and now we see other teams conceding lame goals with man-to-man marking every week. It's just one area where Rafa made a controversial change, stuck with it, and now is reaping the rewards.

My instincts tell me that you are too smart to dispense with a man like Rafa, and that for all the tension you do really respect him. My instincts tell me you have too much to lose, both in terms of talent, squad morale, financial resources and fan backing, by making such a drastic move - if, indeed, that is what you are considering.

If one good thing has come of this, it's that it's made the fans unite behind the manager and his team. The fear of losing Rafa, which may be just paper talk but all the same seems very real, has made many realise just what it is we have to be grateful for.

So, please reassure me, and all other nervous Reds, that it's all one big (unfortunate) misunderstanding, and that yourselves, Rick Parry and Rafa can get together for a group hug sooner rather than later. I'll even buy the coffee and donuts.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Think this pretty much covers all the questions that fans want answering. Not surprisingly this hasnt been picked up on the LFC.TV website like Paul's other articles!

I, for one, am hoping that they'll make up... not that it'll be the end of the world if Rafa leaves, but it definitely will take us backwards to the dark years once again... And imagine the exodus of players too... I tremble at the mere thought of it...

[rahl]

Originally Posted by Xgenre

Bro, Rafa himself voiced his dis-satisfaction at the pre and post match interviews. We didn't hear from someone close to him or some enemy/fan/media that he is unhappy. We hear it straight off from his mouth. The replies from the owners are official replies, not made up by some reporter. So how is it possible to dismiss the news as gossip? This rift isn't gossip.

As a liverpool supporter, shouldn't we be concerned that the manager is having difficulty with the owners? Look at Jose. He did well as a manager yet got sacked for being at odds with the owner. Shouldn't we be concerned that 2 jokers who dun understand the transfer window bought our club? Shouldn't we be concerned that the americans are far and slow to react to the needs of the club?

Are we living in a fantasy world where there is no tension or conflict? Look at our real lives. It is tension and conflict that drive us forward to achieve success. And this coming in the early phase of American ownership is hardly surprising. So why jump on the bandwagon and chatter about the worst? We got to get some perspective here. I'm happy to wait and see what happens and in the meantime talk about football. We are football fans, not rumour-mongers.

[LSB_Fan]

Guys. Why are we so concerned about what the media is reporting ??? We are very very far away from the going ons of anfield.

There is always bound to be friction between managers and the board. Nothing new. So lets not read too much into it and just support our team.

[ANDYSIAO14]

REDS V PORTO: STAT ATTACK

Liverpool Football Club's very own statto Ged Rea has compiled all manner of facts and figures ahead of Wednesday's make or break clash with Porto.
So, sit back and soak up his latest effort including where Peter Crouch stands in the club's European goalscoring charts and which period of a game Fernando Torres is most likely to score in.

Liverpool's European Record (overall): Pld 280 Won 159 Drawn 59 Lost 62.

Liverpool's record in European Cup: Pld 149 Won 87 Drawn 30 Lost 32.

This is Liverpool's 150th game in the European Cup. The clubs they have played most are Benfica (8 times), followed by CSKA Sofia and Chelsea (6 each).

Steve Finnan could become the 17th player to appear 50 times for Liverpool in Europe. The last man to achieve the feat was John Arne Riise in August 2005.

This is the second time the Reds have been drawn to play Porto. In 2000-01 they drew 0-0 here in the UEFA Cup Quarter Final before winning 2-0 at Anfield in the return with first half goals from Danny Murphy and Michael Owen.

Only Sami Hyypia, Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard who played in those games are still at the club.

In 2005 Rafa Benitez became only the fourth Spaniard to lead a team to victory in a European Cup Final following Jose Villalonga, Miguel Munoz and Vicente Del Bosque who all coached Real Madrid to success.
When scoring against Besiktas earlier this month Ryan Babel became the 100th different Liverpool player to score for the club in Europe.

Steven Gerrard will equal Michael Owen's club record of 22 goals in Europe with his next goal.

Peter Crouch has now scored ten times for Liverpool in the European Cup. Only Steven Gerrard (17), Ian Rush (14) and Terry McDermott (12) have scored more.

Those ten goals have been scored in Crouch's last dozen starts in Europe.

Against Besiktas on Matchday 4 Liverpool not only recorded the biggest ever Champions League win they became the first team to score six goals in one half.

Against Besiktas Yossi Benayoun scored Liverpool's 16th European hat-trick. In doing so he became the first overseas player to achieve the feat with the Reds.

All of Peter Crouch's three goals this season have been scored in Europe.
Since being substituted in the Merseyside derby Steven Gerrard has scored in six of Liverpool's seven games.

Only Pepe Reina and Sami Hyypia have played in all six of the Reds' European games this season.

Seven of Fernando Torres's eight goals for Liverpool have been scored from the 50th minute onwards. He is yet to open his account in Europe.

Steve Finnan could become the 17th player to appear 50 times for Liverpool in Europe. The last man to achieve the feat was John Arne Riise in August 2005.

Riise's last goal for Liverpool came in Europe against PSV Eindhoven back in April.

Porto's European Record (overall): Pld 259 Won 119 Drawn 57 Lost 83.

Porto's record in European Cup: Pld 155 Won 66 Drawn 39 Lost 50.

The Portuguese side will qualify for the knockout stages if they secure a draw at Anfield.

The club was founded in 1893 and they are known as the Dragons.

Their colours of blue and white were chosen as a meaning of pureness, calmness and stillness of mind.

They have won the league title in Portugal 22 times and the Cup on 13 occasions.

When they won their domestic Championship in 1996 they were managed by Bobby Robson.

Last season Porto won the league title by one point from Sporting with Benfica a further point behind in third place.

In the last 25 league seasons Porto have finished in the top two on 24 occasions -15 as Champions and nine as runners-up. The only blemish on that record was in 2001-02 when they finished third.

Like Liverpool, Porto have won the European Cup and UEFA Cup but lost in the Cup Winners Cup Final. They won the European Cup in 1987 and repeated the feat under Jose Mourinho in 2004 a year after beating Celtic to lift the UEFA Cup.

This is their 13th season in the Champions League, equalling the record of Manchester United. They won it under its current format in 2004 beating Monaco 3-0 in Gelsenkirchen with a team that included Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Nuno Valente, Pedro Mendes, Benni McCarthy and Deco.

They are one of seven teams to have won the trophy on two occasions. The others are Benfica, Inter Milan, Nottingham Forest, Juventus, Manchester United and Barcelona.

They have only missed out on the Champions League in three seasons (1994-95, 2000-01 and 2002-03).

Porto have finished as group winners only once (in 1996-97) and runners up six times at the first Group Stage.

Last season they finished as runners-up to Arsenal in Group G before losing 3-2 to Chelsea in the last 16.

At the club is a player who has scored against Liverpool in the Premiership. Helder Postiga scored for Tottenham in a 2-1 win at White Hart Lane in January 2004. Injury however is likely to rule him out of this match.

Porto have played ten times in England in European competition and lost nine. The only time they avoided defeat was the infamous draw at Old Trafford in 2004. They have yet to keep a clean sheet on English soil conceding 26 goals.

Scorers this season (Europe in brackets) :

Liverpool: Torres 8 (0), Gerrard 7 (2), Kuyt 6 (3), Benayoun 5 (3), Babel 4 (2), Voronin 4 (1), Crouch 3 (3), Alonso 2 (0), El Zhar 1 (0), Hyypia 1 (1), Sissoko 1 (0), own goals 1 (0).

Porto: Lisandro 11 (1), Quaresma 4 (1), Lucho Gonzalez 3 (2), Sektioui 3 (1), Raul Meireles 2 (0), Joao Paulo 1 (0), Postiga 1 (0).
-liverpoolfctv

[KLKOOL]

I look at it this way

The Yanks are used to the way American Teams are managed, and that is Management and Coaching is separate. Look at American Football and NBA, the coach does not choose what players to have, The owner does and the manager/coach work with what they are given.

In soccer this can be disastrous in the long term. Look at Chelski ... vs Arsenal To me, they should rid the team of Rick Parry and let Rafa choose the players rather than the Rick Parry...

Can someone tell me what is Rick's contribution to Liverpool FC ?

[Cummon]

Originally Posted by KLKOOL

Can someone tell me what is Rick's contribution to Liverpool FC ?

Rick Parry did get us Rafa

Anyway don't know what happen to him & Gillett,have been keeping quiet recently. Expect the fans to chant Rafa's name at Anfiled in the Porto match,
showing the owners how much they love this man,who is capable & has given his heart & soul to our beloved LFC.
Hopefully the storm will blow over soon.

[Exciter101]

Saw ESPN yesterday, the commentator was saying that Rafa mentioned "coaching and training" 14 times....
Sign of fragility in the man himself...
Hope he can just focus on the job tonite and nail those buggers....

[js0n]

1 thing for sure.

He will never walk alone. Liverpool fans and players are backing him up 2nite.cant wait to see tonite's game.

[Cummon]

Just like Gerrad said after the match,we could have played better.
Good win & let's march on.

Anyone find Rafa did look a bit emaciated ?

[Cum_Luver]

oh yeah, thatz was a good game...
after going 1-0 in the 19 minutes, we were dominating the game but cannot increase our total. And then the equaliser by Lopez in the 33rd minutes, I thought, oh no not again...
Then the 2nd half started with the same momentum but also no goal to show until the 78th minutes, another goal by Torres, followed by a penalty by Gerrard.
I was hoping that the scoreline of 3-1 will stay till the end as I played a small bet at Pools, 1st time betting on Liverpool for so long.
But Crouch scored a 4th goal in the 87th minutes...there went my bet.

It is alright, as we won the match and still have a chance to go thru the next stage...In fact all 4 teams in the group have a chance with Besiktas winning against Marseille..

We must get a win against Marseille on 11 Dec 07, a draw will not be good enough, as head-to-head, Marseille will go thru, consider that Porto against Besiktas is at their home.

[ANDYSIAO14]

Rafael Benitez expressed an emotional message of thanks to the club's supporters after Liverpool stormed to an emphatic 4-1 win over Porto in the Champions League.

The Reds boss was delighted with the performance of his players as they ensured that progress to the latter stages of the competition will be assured if they beat Marseille in two weeks' time.

But it was the impact made by the club's fans that struck the most significant chord with the Reds boss as Anfield once again rose to the occasion in Europe.

"I want to say thank you to our supporters because I think that they were as always magnificent," said Benitez.

"The most important thing is the team so I say thank you for the support. To the players it was important as I said before the game and it was also for me, so I say a thank you, a big thank you."

Fernando Torres hit a double and Steven Gerrard (penalty) and substitute Peter Crouch added other late goals to give the scoreline a more flattering look.

And Benitez was pleased to see the club's record signing back among the goals after his impressive display got the Reds back on track following Lisandro's equaliser.

"For me it doesn't matter the price," said Benitez.

"Sometimes people say you spent this money, but Voronin was a Bosman transfer and he has been really good so it is not important the money.

"Torres is a player who can score goals. He missed three or four chances the other day against Newcastle but today he scored and sometimes this is how it happens." -liverpoofc.tv

[ANDYSIAO14]

double postings

[ANDYSIAO14]

so hapy today.........
next game...Bolton...

[wolfclan]

Originally Posted by Cum_Luver

oh yeah, thatz was a good game...
after going 1-0 in the 19 minutes, we were dominating the game but cannot increase our total. And then the equaliser by Lopez in the 33rd minutes, I thought, oh no not again...
Then the 2nd half started with the same momentum but also no goal to show until the 78th minutes, another goal by Torres, followed by a penalty by Gerrard.
I was hoping that the scoreline of 3-1 will stay till the end as I played a small bet at Pools, 1st time betting on Liverpool for so long.
But Crouch scored a 4th goal in the 87th minutes...there went my bet..

during the last liverpool home game against bestikas i was thinking of betting AOS too, but did not and when they got the 6th goals......i was cursing my luck sighz.....

Originally Posted by Cum_Luver

It is alright, as we won the match and still have a chance to go thru the next stage...In fact all 4 teams in the group have a chance with Besiktas winning against Marseille..

We must get a win against Marseille on 11 Dec 07, a draw will not be good enough, as head-to-head, Marseille will go thru, consider that Porto against Besiktas is at their home.

imagine if both liverpool and bestikas were to win their last game, both will qualify.....
certainly hope liverpool to win against marseille, the other game in the group, not a concern.