Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Carling Cup: Reds crash out on penalties
Northampton Town produced one of the shocks of the season as they dumped Liverpool out of the Carling Cup with a 4-2 win on penalties at Anfield on Wednesday night.
The Reds had forced spot-kicks when Ngog headed in his seventh goal of the season on 115 minutes to deny Michael Jacobs the headlines after Billy McKay had cancelled out Milan Jovanovic's opener in normal time.
It means the League Two outfit have become the first side from English football's fourth tier to defeat the Reds in this competition and leaves Roy Hodgson to pick up the pieces ahead of Saturday's league clash at home to Sunderland.
Liverpool had gone into the tie on the back of a narrow 3-2 defeat at Manchester United and Hodgson opted to the use the occasion to take a closer look at his fringe players.
In came Brad Jones and Danny Wilson to make their Liverpool debuts while Jay Spearing, Martin Kelly and Dani Pacheco were amongst a clutch of youngsters eager to make an impression. [Read more…]
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Monday, September 20, 2010
Premier League: Manchester United 3-2 Liverpool
Dimitar Berbatov smashed home a hat-trick as Manchester United edged a pulsating encounter to beat Liverpool 3-2 on Sunday afternoon.
The striker netted either side of half-time to put the Red Devils firmly in the driving seat before a quick-fire Steven Gerrard brace pulled the visitors level.
It means Roy Hodgson's men have now lost two of their opening five league matches and they remain in the bottom half of the table with just five points.
The Reds had gone into the contest with their arch-rivals on the back of a 4-1 success over Steaua Bucharest and the travelling Kop would have been further buoyed by the sight of Fernando Torres, Joe Cole and Gerrard in the starting XI. [Read more…]
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Friday, September 17, 2010
Europa League: Liverpool 4-1 Steaua Bucharest
Joe Cole scored his first goal for Liverpool and David Ngog notched a brace as the Reds beat Steaua Bucharest 4-1 in the Europa League on Thursday night.
The midfielder had the honour of firing home the club's fastest ever goal in European competition on 27 seconds before Ngog (penalty) and substitute Lucas Leiva put them back in the driving seat after Cristian Tanase had levelled with a sublime first-half finish.
Ngog then put the icing on the cake with a well taken fourth in injury-time to take his tally to six for the season so far.
It means Liverpool have opened their Group K account with an important victory and also sees Hodgson become the first Reds manager in history to win his first five European games.
Going into the clash the boss had opted to make eight changes to his line-up with both Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard amongst a host of players rested for Sunday's league contest at Manchester United. [Read more…]
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Monday, September 13, 2010
Pepe Reina saves Liverpool a point
Paul Konchesky and Raul Meireles made their Liverpool debuts as the Reds played out a 0-0 draw with Birmingham City at St Andrews on Sunday afternoon.
Roy Hodgson's side had Pepe Reina to thank for securing a share of the spoils as the Spaniard delivered a goalkeeping master class in a first half in which the hosts enjoyed the better of the action.
Liverpool were improved in the second period, although Blues' stopper Ben Foster remained largely untroubled with neither side able to break the deadlock in a tight encounter.
The Reds went into the contest seeking their first Barclays Premier League away victory of the new season, and Hodgson's first points on the road at the helm.
But they journeyed to the Midlands knowing in order to do so, they'd have to overcome a side who had not tasted defeat on home soil in the league for 16 matches.
Furthermore, Liverpool were without a top-flight victory at St Andrews since 2004 - which was also their last Premier League win over the Blues - though the last six meetings had ended in stalemate. [Read more…]
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Sunday, September 12, 2010
Weekend Links: A view on English prospects in this season's Champions League, Wayne Rooney – Some role model, eh?, Wayne Rooney Saga, United held, Chelsea win, Giants suffer comprehensive defeats
Another round of weekend links from me. This week’s focus on “Looney” Rooney and fall of the titan in Spain. Want to have your post mentioned here? Find out more here.
A view on English prospects in this season's Champions League – 90 Minutes
English clubs are becoming more obsessed than ever about winning the Champions League. Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham are on the road to try and claim their first win in this great competition whilst Manchester United are trying to reclaim it. [Read more…]
Wayne Rooney – Some role model, eh? – Football Corner
Wayne Rooney Saga – Football News Blog
Wayne Rooney would have not been the first person to of used football to escape demons on his personal life. Rooney wanted to be professional and not let his personal life affect his work, any one who works can understand that you have to leave your problems at home. The problem is that while scoring on Tuesday night delighted a nation, his professional life will not affect his personal life, while his personal life could affect his professional life. [Read more…]
United held, Chelsea win – Prem League Live
Wayne Rooney was left at home as Manchester United threw away two points at Everton courtesy of Mikel Arteta's dramatic equaliser. [Read more…]
Giants suffer comprehensive defeats – Premiership Talk
Champions League favorites Barcelona and AC Milan did little to prove their credentials ahead of the midweek’s group stage openers when they both succumbed to 2-0 defeats against minnows Hercules and Cesena, respectively. [Read more…]
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Friday, September 10, 2010
Liverpool on the brinks into administration
Tom Hicks and George Gillett's ill-starred reign as owners of Liverpool looks like having less than a month to run after the club's loans with Royal Bank of Scotland were placed into its toxic-assets division.
The co-owners' previous attempt to refinance the debts in June, when they are believed to have offered to secure the loans against their US assets, was overruled by the club's board, led by the chairman, Martin Broughton. Now, with the loans having been shifted into RBS's so-called "bad bank", where all toxic assets have been housed since last year, it is clear the club's lender has also adopted a more steely stance towards the Americans.
According to the club's accounts to July 2009 Liverpool's owners owe £237.4million to RBS. Through companies in the UK and overseas, Hicks and Gillett are also personally exposed to tens of millions of pounds in other commitments to the club and its lender. These have been a mixture of cash, which the pair have injected through equity, and guarantees to the RBS loans. Last year's accounts stated these amounted to £145.3million, but it is believed to have risen dramatically after the last refinancing agreed five months ago.
RBS would hope to achieve an orderly sale without having to take control of Liverpool. However, depending on the terms of the April refinancing agreement – which have never been made public – that may prove difficult if the co-owners, who value the club at £800million, refuse to go quietly.
One tool at RBS's disposal is to force the insolvency of Liverpool's UK parent and associated companies. It is clear from mortgage documents lodged with Companies House that in the event of default RBS has the power to place Kop Football and Kop Football (Holdings), as well as Gillett's loan-security vehicle, Football UK Ltd, into administration. However that would be unpalatable for the bank, Liverpool's board and the Premier League since it would require the imposition of a nine-point penalty on the club.
Gérard Houllier's return to English football with Aston Villa provides a reminder of how little and everything has changed about Liverpool since the need for new investment prompted former chairman David Moores to accept the Americans' £5,000 per share offer. Houllier spent years bemoaning Liverpool's inability to compete financially with Manchester United and Chelsea (though Arsenal's achievements at that time always undermined his argument) and was sacked after an alarming dip in form, bad buys and with Liverpool fearing they could be cut adrift while losing the services of two disillusioned stars – Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard.
Offering Jürgen Klinsmann a European Cup-winning manager's job turned the tide of public opinion against the co-owners, but a bigger mistake was to redraw plans for a new 60,000-capacity stadium on Stanley Park within weeks of their takeover. It was pre-credit crunch, and planning permission and European funding was in place for a stadium that was estimated to cost £215million.
The verdict was returned long ago. And they never did buy Snoogy-Doogy.
Source: Guardian UK
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Friday, September 3, 2010
Carragher week: 1 career, 23 pictures
By Paul Hassall of Liverpoolfc.tv
Jamie Carragher will mark his 15th season as a first-team player with Liverpool in a testimonial versus an Everton XI on Saturday - here's his career to-date in 23 great pictures.
The ultimate one-club player, and with one of the biggest hearts in football, Jamie Carragher is Mr Liverpool.
The vice-captain has been instrumental in the Reds' success over the last decade, during which he's made more than 500 appearances.
One of the heroes of Istanbul, it's hard to imagine that famous comeback occurring without him.
His Liverpool journey began back in October 1996 when he signed professional terms following a successful apprenticeship.
