Tag Archives: Liverpool

Fulham 1-3 Liverpool Match Report

13 May

Fulham 1-3 Liverpool Match Report

 

Daniel Sturridge scored his first senior hat-trick to silence the crowd on his return to West London. Berbatov opened the scoring against the run of play for Fulham, but the lead didn’t last long as Sturridge provided the goals for a makeshift Liverpool side that played some tremendous football and could have scored more.

 

The Team

 

Brendan Rodgers was forced to change his team from the one that faced Everton last weekend, with Captain Steven Gerrard ruled out due to needing surgery on a recurring shoulder injury, and Daniel Agger also unavailable through injury. Luis Suarez was serving his third match of his lengthy 10 match ban. Martin Skrtel was also missing through illness.

 

Reina kept goal, with Johnson, Wisdom, Coates, Carragher and Downing his defence in front of him. Coutinho, Lucas, Henderson and Shelvey made up the midfield and Sturridge started as the lone striker.

 

The Match

 

The match started at a pedestrian pace with Liverpool dominating possession without threatening the Fulham goal and Schwarzer remained untested until Coutinho stung the keeper’s hands with a 20 yard drive.

 

Fulham had barely touched the ball and they surprisingly took the lead in the 32nd minute when Riether’s cross was headed past Reina by Berbatov at the back post.

 

Fulham’s lead was short lived when Sturridge got on the end of a Wisdom clearance before making a yard for himself to fire an unstoppable shot past Schwarzer. Both sides went in level at half-time, but the second half brought a higher tempo and more entertainment to the match.

 

Enrique came on for Wisdom as Liverpool switched to a 4-4-2 formation after the break. A slack pass from Henderson presented Kacaniklic with a chance but he shot wide.

 

Then Fulham thought they should have had a penalty when Ruiz’s cross struck Lucas’s outstretched arm , but referee Halsey waved play on. Two minutes later Liverpool were ahead when Coutinho’s wayward shot found Sturridge who calmly stroked the ball past Schwarzer.

 

Moments later Sturridge robbed Hangeland but Schwarzer made a great save to deny the striker his hat-trick. Then at the other end Reina made a superb save from a Hughes header in a rare Fulham attack.

 

Next it was substitute Borini who went close when he hit the post with a powerful drive. But Liverpool eventually made the game safe when Sturridge netted his hat-trick after lifting the ball over the onrushing Schwarzer after being sent clear by Coutinho.

 

Sturridge left the field with the match ball after producing an impressive performance.

 

Summary

 

Liverpool had an unusual look about them with Gerrard, Agger and Suarez all missing, but it didn’t stop them producing an impressive performance away to Fulham, especially after going behind. Liverpool dominated for long spells and they should have scored more goals in the second half. Sturridge was on fire, and Fulham couldn’t cope with his movement and his 3 goals were superbly taken. Coutinho once again provided some defence splitting passes, highlighted by the pass for Sturridge’s third goal. But overall it was a great display by Liverpool and their end of season form gives great encouragement for next season.

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Farewell Sir Alex

8 May

 

Farewell Sir Alex

Saw the news last night on social media networks that Sir Alex Ferguson was retiring at the end of the season. I took the news with a pinch of salt and as wishful thinking. But the news broke this morning and I have to say that as a Liverpool supporter I am very happy that he has decided to retire.

I wish he had done it a few years ago to be honest but glad this day has finally come and I’m sure a few people around the country will celebrate this news. The response of his retiring has a similar reaction to Maggie Thatcher’s passing.

OK so envy and jealousy of Fergie’s success and his achievement of knocking Liverpool of their perch as United have overtaken our haul of 18 League titles under his reign has made me long for this day. But as joyous as the day is it must be gut wrenching for the supporters of Manchester United supporters as their “Sir” announces his retirement.

United fans knew the day would come but dreaded thinking about it. Now is that day and although they have a great squad of players and are current Premiership Champions, the future remains uncertain. It doesn’t matter if you are a supporter of Manchester United or Rochdale whenever there is a change of manager the future is unclear, and after the success enjoyed under the leadership of Fergie his successor will have a very difficult task of continuing his great work.

Candidates of his successor have already been mentioned and the top two at this time of writing are Jose Mourinho and Davie Moyes.

Mourinho is a tremendous manager and I think he would sit comfortably on Fergie’s throne and achieve more success for United. I think Mourinho would also lure Ronaldo back to Old Trafford.

Moyes is a great manager in his own right and he has done a marvellous job at Everton over the years on a shoe string budget and he has shown great loyalty to Everton, but for Moyes to get the opportunity to manage Manchester United it would be very difficult for him to decline the chance.

It would be a totally different challenge for Moyes at United with expectations so much higher than at Everton. Moyes is also lacking in European experience which would be needed at United.

So personally I hope United choose Moyes for Fergie’s successor as I think it could be too different a job from what he’s used to at Everton, and I think he would struggle.

But I remain happy at the fact that there is change at long last at Old Trafford after constant domination over the last 20 years which Liverpool enjoyed during the 70’s and 80’s. Liverpool had more managers during that time but it was men who knew the club inside out, Shankly, Paisley, Fagan, Dalglish.

United have relied on one man’s great managerial qualities for a very long time, just like they did with Matt Busby and when he left they struggled. Football seems to work in cycles and I’m hoping a new cycle is beginning in the way it did when Busby left and United don’t win another title for another 20 or so years.

I never liked Fergie as a manager, like I said earlier I was envy and jealous of the success he brought to United, but I didn’t like the way he constantly berated officials and very rarely showed respect to his opponents after a defeat. His collection of silverware is second to none but he lacks the class of Shankly, Paisley and Matt Busby in the way he conducts himself compared to them.

But at the end of the day his style of management, love him or hate him, has won him countless trophies and you can’t take that away from him. So in a mark of respect from a Liverpool supporter to Sir Alex Ferguson, I wish you a happy retirement but I am glad to see you go.

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Liverpool 0-0 Everton Match Report

5 May

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Liverpool 0-0 Everton Match Report

 

Liverpool and Everton cancelled out each other in a rather forgettable 220th Merseyside derby at Anfield. Chances were few and far between as Everton looked to stay above their neighbours in the league and finish above them for the second season in a row for the first time since 1937. Everton rarely threatened to win at Anfield for the first time in 14 years, although Everton had a goal disallowed when Distin headed past Reina in the second half. Liverpool’s best chances came from Sturridge and Gerrard but Liverpool had to settle for a point.

 

The Team

 

Brendan Rodgers kept the same team that destroyed Newcastle last weekend with Reina once again keeping goal with a protection of Johnson, Agger, Carragher and Enrique the defence in front of him. Coutinho, Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson and Downing completed the midfield with Daniel Sturridge playing as the lone striker in attack with Suarez serving the second match of his 10 match ban.

 

The Match

 

Liverpool showed Everton appreciation of the support they’ve given the Hillsborough families over the years prior to kick-off when the Kop held up a mosaic that read “Thanks”.

 

Jamie Carragher was making his last appearance in a Merseyside derby his 30th in total and he would hope to make his last a win.

 

Henderson’s raking ball to Sturridge followed by a similar pass by Gerrard showed Liverpool’s intent on utilising Sturridge’s pace. Gerrard looked really up for this derby match as he crashed into challenges, one of which resulted in him moving gingerly for a few minutes after clashing with Osman.

 

Everton settled well and dominated possession and Fellaini almost scored but his stabbed effort from a Baines’ free-kick just missed the far post.

 

Chances in the first half were at a premium but Gerrard saw a goal-bound effort superbly blocked by Jagielka before the Liverpool Captain curled a free-kick just wide. Then Jagielka produced a tremendous goal-saving tackle on Coutinho as the Brazilian was just about to pull the trigger.

 

The second half started with Liverpool looking more threatening as Coutinho released Sturridge behind the Everton defence, but the striker could not get round Tim Howard in a one-on-one situation before eventually firing into the side-netting.

 

Distin thought he had given the visitors the lead just before the hour mark when he headed a Baines’ corner past Reina, but his effort was disallowed.

 

Coutinho then got his finish all wrong when he tried a delicate finish before Gerrard rounded Howard only to be denied by Distin’s goalline clearance.

 

But the match petered out in the latter stages as Everton looked happy with the draw and Liverpool ran out of ideas.

 

Summary

 

A very disappointing derby with few chances and Liverpool never created enough chances against a very organised Everton defence. Steven Gerrard was superb driving his team on but disappointingly not enough of his team-mates were in the same mood. Everton had the best of the first half but Jagielka made two superb blocks to deny Liverpool. Liverpool were better in the second half but Everton were disappointing in the way they settled for a draw in the second half as they tried to time waste at every opportunity. Everton must feel aggrieved that Distin’s effort was ruled out because there looked little wrong with the goal. Sturridge was poor today and looked like he didn’t like the physical treatment from the Everton defence. This derby won’t live long in the memory.

 

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Life Without Suarez

4 May

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Life Without Suarez

 

Liverpool were left resigned to the fact that they will be without their star striker Luis Suarez for the remainder of this season and the first 6 matches of next season after accepting the FA’s 10 match ban for his infamous bite on Chelsea defender Ivanovic in last weekend’s match at Anfield.

 

Although Liverpool felt aggrieved to be dealt a lengthy ban for their player, they did the correct thing by accepting the ban and by moving on and putting an end to the matter. The big question now is, who will score the goals for Liverpool ?

 

Luis Suarez has been in outstanding form for Liverpool this season and his goal scoring record of 30 goals in 44 competitive games has been invaluable to the Anfield side. Liverpool were so reliant on Suarez for the first half of this season as Liverpool were short of recognised strikers with the departure of Kuyt, Bellamy and Andy Carroll moving to West Ham United on loan for the whole season. Liverpool missed out on Clint Dempsey on the last day of the transfer window as he chose to sign for Spurs instead and Liverpool’s new signing Fabio Borini broke a foot early in the season to compound Liverpool’s striking problems.

 

Liverpool’s striking problems have eased slightly in January when they signed Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea and he has linked up well with Suarez and has now scored 8 goals in 13 matches for his new club after his double on Saturday.

 

 

Well Saturday was Liverpool’s first match without Suarez as they travelled to Newcastle and they did pretty well. They not only won, but they scored 6 without reply, in what was Newcastle’s heaviest defeat since the 1920’s.

 

 

 

Daniel Sturridge replaced Suarez in attack in what was manager Brendan Rodgers only change to the team that faced Chelsea the previous week. Liverpool were very impressive in a one sided match that they dominated against a poor Newcastle team. Sturridge scored 2 goals in an impressive striking performance where he linked up with the incisive passing of Liverpool’s midfield on numerous occasions. Sturridge produced a striking performance that would have pleased Brendan Rodgers immensely as he held the ball up before linking up with Liverpool’s advancing midfielders. The way Sturridge played off the shoulder of Newcastle’s last defender was also encouraging as he gave the likes of Coutinho and Gerrard a target to hit behind the defence. The 2 goals was just the icing on the cake from his impressive performance and it was good to see him unhappy to be replaced by Jonjo Shelvey late in the game as he wanted his hat-trick.

 

Sturridge has stated in the past that he wanted to play through the middle as a striker and supposed to be part of the reason that he left Chelsea in January because he was used mostly out wide at Stamford Bridge as his chances were limited at playing through the middle.

 

Sturridge must be Rodgers’ number one striker now and this is a great chance for the former Chelsea man to play in his more favoured position. The only concern is his fitness as there has been a few niggling injuries since his arrival in January . So if Sturridge stays healthy Liverpool might not miss Suarez’s absence too much.

 

But Liverpool got lucky with Suarez in the early part of the season when he was the only striker because he is very resilient and stays free of injury. But Liverpool might not be so lucky with Sturridge and his resilience, so they need other options.

 

Fabio Borini has been very unlucky with injuries since joining Liverpool and it was a bonus for Liverpool to see him back in action on Saturday and even better to see him score his first League goal for his new club.

 

Borini’s return gives Brendan Rodgers another option in attack and the Italian will be eager to make up for lost time in a frustrating and disrupted first season at Anfield.

 

The summer will no doubt see players come and go at Anfield and the striking department could be an area that Rodgers will want to strengthen, especially with Suarez’s ban continuing into the new season.

 

Andy Carroll is a subject of much speculation as he looks like returning from his loan spell at West Ham United in the summer, but there is also much talk of him returning to his native town of Newcastle for a second spell at his home town club.

 

Brendan Rodgers doesn’t seem to fancy Carroll and he wasn’t long farming the big striker out on loan, even with strikers in short supply in his squad. Andy Carroll has played pretty well in his time at West Ham after a few injury problems earlier in the season and he has managed to weigh in with 7 goals in 21 appearances for the Hammers.

 

Some footballing experts believe Andy Carroll would be ideal for Liverpool’s attack as many attacks from Liverpool in wide positions end up with wasted crosses into the opposition box with no target to hit. Carroll’s physique and style of play would also give Liverpool an option of a plan B that has been lacking in certain games this season when Liverpool have struggled.

 

But if anything is to be acknowledged from Saturday’s win at Newcastle then it must be that the dependency on one player was quashed as different players got into attacking positions and this was proved by the number of different goal scorers.

 

Suarez’s absence could be a blessing in disguise and make Liverpool a more difficult team to predict if they are going to produce attacks through different players getting into forward positions and when Suarez returns to the team next season he will only strengthen the attack that has learned to live without him. So there could be many positives to come out of Suarez’s ban that many thought would be a disaster for Liverpool Football Club highlighting the saying “that no player is bigger than the club”.

 

 

 

 

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Newcastle United 0-6 Liverpool Match Report

27 Apr

Newcastle United 0-6 Liverpool Match Report

 

Liverpool hit the headlines today in all the right ways after a difficult week for the club which saw their star striker Luis Suarez banned for 10 matches after last week’s infamous biting incident with Chelsea’s Ivanovic. Liverpool hit 6 against a poor Newcastle side with an early goal from Daniel Agger setting the theme for the day. A double from Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge, followed by a goal from the fit again Fabio Borini resulted in an emphatic score line for the visitors.

 

The Team

 

As predicted Brendan Rodgers replaced the suspended Luis Suarez with Daniel Sturridge in attack, the rest of the team remained the same with Reina in goal and Johnson, Agger, Carragher and Enrique the defence in front of him. Coutinho, Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson and Downing provided the midfield.

 

The Match

 

Liverpool started the match on the attack with Coutinho releasing Johnson down the right flank before the full-back crossed low only to be cleared behind behind for an early corner.

 

A minute later Agger headed the visitors into the lead after Coutinho looped a ball over the top of the Newcastle defence.

 

Newcastle seemed shell shocked from conceding the early goal and Liverpool grew in confidence from taking the early lead. Sturridge had the next effort but his effort was punched away by Elliot although the striker was flagged offside.

 

Not surprisingly Liverpool doubled their lead in the 17th minute after a brilliant move involving Sturridge and Coutinho before Sturridge unselfishly set up Henderson to pass into an empty goal.

 

Liverpool continued to dominate possession as Newcastle struggled to contain Liverpool’s attacking threat. But they should have pulled a goal back when Haidara crossed into the centre, but James Perch headed over from close range.

 

Newcastle had their best spell of the match prior to half-time but Liverpool defended comfortably to preserve their 2-0 lead at the break.

 

Newcastle started the second half a lot better than the first and Gouffran headed an effort straight at Reina to encourage the home support. But the hosts were hit by a sucker punch when Sturridge smashed in Liverpool’s third goal after a clever pass pass by Coutinho.

 

The match was now over as a contest but Newcastle had a shout for a penalty when Ben Arfa’s powerful shot cannoned off Lucas’s arm in the box, but the referee correctly waved play on.

 

Then on the hour mark Henderson squared for Sturridge to net his second of the day and Liverpool’s fourth as many Newcastle fans headed for the exit.

 

Steven Gerrard was replaced in the 73rd minute by Fabio Borini who was returning from injury and he made an instant impact by stabbing an effort past Elliot for his first Premiership goal for Liverpool.

 

2 minutes later Debuchy was sent off for a second yellow card after a rash challenge on Coutinho and Henderson curled in the resulting free-kick into the bottom corner making it 6-0 to the visitors.

 

Coutinho almost made it 7-0 but his long range effort was superbly saved onto the bar by Elliot. The rest of the match was played out like a training match as both teams appreciated the contest was over.

 

Summary

 

Suarez wasn’t missed too badly today as Liverpool scored 6 and Sturridge impressed by scoring 2 goals and the way he lead the line. But Coutinho was the stand out performer with several defence splitting passes and played a part in most of Liverpool’s goals. Newcastle were poor but you can only beat what’s in front of you and Liverpool played well. To score 6 goals away from home and without their star striker was tremendous and sets them up well for next week’s Merseyside derby.

 

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Public Enemy Number One

22 Apr

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Public Enemy Number One

 

Luis Suarez grabbed all the headlines once again for all the wrong reasons after taking a bite out of Chelsea defender Ivanovic’s arm at Anfield. Suarez has hardly been out of the headlines since joining Liverpool but his latest action has brought disgust and calls for him to booted out of Liverpool for this unsavoury incident.

 

Suarez has cleaned up his diving act in recent months as he has tried to improve his image highlighted by the nation’s media. The media have constantly hounded the Uruguayan since he arrived on our shores and every wrong move by Suarez has been headline news.

 

The biggest saga until now was the ban after allegedly racially abusing Manchester United’s Evra which resulted in the striker receiving an 8 match ban and a fine of £40,000. Many believe former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish lost his job over the defence of Suarez.

 

But Liverpool have once again been let down by Suarez and once again he has put them in a difficult position. The biting incident has shocked the country, even though Suarez has previous after being banned for by the Dutch FA for 7 matches after biting PSV midfielder Bakkal while playing for Ajax.

 

Suarez is one of the best strikers in the world but he has serious flaws and he is capable of anything good and bad.

 

Liverpool have come out and handled the situation well by making Suarez apologise for his conduct and fining him, but also by stating that he will remain a Liverpool player.

 

Credit has to go to Ivanovic for not making a meal of the whole situation where many players would and Rafa Benitez also deserves a lot of credit for not getting involved when interrogated after the match by the media.

 

It is a nonsense for people to say Suarez should be kicked out of Liverpool and it won’t happen. Footballers don’t get sacked and they are important commodities and worth a lot of money to their club and unless Liverpool get offered a massive amount of money for Suarez, then he will remain a Liverpool player.

 

Suarez will get banned by the FA and he and Liverpool will accept the ban and life will go on and Suarez will continue to score goals for Liverpool and he will get booked occasionally but Liverpool will do all they can to help their star striker with his on the field behavioural problems.

 

 

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Liverpool 2-2 Chelsea Match Report

22 Apr

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Liverpool 2-2 Chelsea Match Report

 

Luis Suarez stole the headlines on Rafael Benitez’s return to Anfield with a last gasp equaliser 6 minutes into injury-time. But unfortunately it wasn’t his late goal that grabbed the headlines, but his bite on Chelsea defender Ivanovic which the match officials missed. Oscar headed Chelsea into the lead before Liverpool substitute Sturridge levelled in the second half. But moments later a Suarez handball allowed Hazard to convert a penalty to restore the visitors’ lead before Suarez’s last gasp headed equaliser.

 

The Team

 

Brendan Rodgers made one change from the side that drew 0-0 at Reading last week, with Stewart Downing returning to the side in place of Daniel Sturridge who dropped to the bench. Reina kept goal with Johnson, Carragher, Agger and Enrique the defence in front of him. Coutinho, Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson and Downing made up the midfield with Suarez in attack.

 

The Match

 

The pre-match build up was concentrated on the return of former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez who is still a big favourite at Anfield. Benitez also laid a floral tribute at the Hillsborough memorial prior to the match in tribute to the 96. A minute’s applause was also performed prior to kick-off in respect of Hillsborough Campaigner Anne Williams who died last Thursday and for the victims of the last week’s Boston Marathon.

 

After all the emotion prior to kick-off, the match started very flat with not a lot happening in the early stages. The first chance fell to former Chelsea player Glen Johnson, but he could only toe-poke an effort into the hoardings.

 

Former Kop favourite Torres was thwarted by a diving interception from Enrique as Chelsea started to settle into the match. The first quarter of the match was very laboured without any goal mouth action until Oscar headed past Reina at a corner kick at the near post after losing the Liverpool defence.

 

Three minutes later David Luiz fired in a dipping free-kick which Reina spilled only to recover just in time before the ball crossed the line. Torres then earned himself a booking for an elbow into the face of Carragher, before Suarez smashed a shot at goal but Cech made a good save at his near post.

 

Liverpool’s poor first half performance resulted in Rodgers making a change at half-time with Sturridge replacing Coutinho, and Sturridge made an instant impact with a great run before setting up Gerrard whose low shot was brilliantly saved by the left foot of Cech.

 

Seconds later Sturridge let fly from 25 yards only to be denied by the post with Cech beaten. The former Chelsea man had changed the match completely and energised Liverpool’s performance.

 

Then Sturridge levelled the match from close range after a delicious curling cross from Suarez sending the Kop wild with delight. But the celebrations were short lived as 4 minutes later Chelsea were awarded a penalty kick when referee Kevin Friend noticed a handball by Suarez in the Liverpool box.

 

Hazard converted the resulting spot-kick sending Reina the wrong way and giving the visitors the lead again. Liverpool seemed to have the wind taken out of their sails by the loss of the goal and struggled to create chances as the game became more nasty with a few unsavoury incidents as Carragher became involved with a running battle with Torres, and Sturridge was lucky to escape a red card after a nasty challenge on Chelsea defender Ryan Bertrand.

 

But the bite by Suarez was obviously the worst incident, although missed by match officials at the time, the incident was witnessed by replays shown to TV viewers.

 

Rodgers replaced Downing with Shelvey as time started to run out on Liverpool and he should have made himself a hero seconds after coming on when Sturridge presented him with a golden opportunity to equalise, but the youngster fired into the side-netting.

 

Chelsea looked to have taken all 3 points after surviving the additional 6 minutes shown by the fourth official but in extra added time Suarez headed past Cech from a Sturridge cross with last action of the match sending the Kop wild with delight and earning Liverpool a deserved point.

 

Summary

 

Rodgers was wrong leaving Sturridge out and he proved that with his second half performance. The first half was one of the worst performances from Liverpool this season as they showed no energy and cohesion and constantly gave the ball away as they surrendered possession to Chelsea. The second half was far better and it was really down to Sturridge who ignited the team, although hopefully a few choice half-time words from Rodgers may have helped too.

 

But the match and the score pales into significance as all the talk will be about Suarez biting Ivanovic and that is sad. But the incident was really disgusting and as unsavoury an incident as you will see in football and there is no defending that type of behaviour. Suarez has to be, and will be punished. But Liverpool can’t be expected to sack or sell him without a replacement of his calibre, which will not be easy to find.

 

Suarez should be given help by mental health professionals as he obviously has a problem which could happen again if not treated. He has committed this crime in the past and it could very easily happen again if not treated. He is a terrific player and like other great players like Cantona and Zidane they have a self-destruct button that can be triggered at any time.

 

Liverpool and Suarez did the right thing by issuing an apology and contacting Ivanovic, who showed remarkable restraint and professionalism to continue playing in a concentrated fashion after the incident and also for accepting Suarez’s apology. Liverpool have reportedly fined Suarez for his behaviour and state that they will continue to support their player and they will wait to see what punishment the FA will decide upon.

 

 

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R.I.P Maggie From Liverpool

17 Apr

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R.I.P. Maggie From Liverpool

So today is the funeral of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and she will not be missed by many people from the city of Liverpool. Like so many towns and cities in the North of the country Liverpool’s industry was badly affected by her term in office.

Liverpool in the 1980’s was a city of industrial unrest with rioting in the streets of Toxteth. Mrs Thatcher believed that declining industries should not be propped up, but her policies may have exacerbated it.

Cabinet papers released under the 30 year rule in 2011, showed that Mrs Thatcher’s Chancellor Sir Geoffrey Howe (now Lord Howe) argued that Liverpool should be left to “manage decline”.

While ministers such as the then Secretary for the environment Michael (now Lord) Heseltine were arguing for regeneration funding to rebuild the riot-hit communities. Lord Howe thought it would be a waste of money.

He warned Mrs Thatcher “not to commit scarce resources to Liverpool”.

Strangely enough, Lord Howe has since said that his letter was misunderstood.

Lord Heseltine stated that Thatcher did care about Liverpool after being sent by her to the city in the aftermath of the Toxteth riots.

Thatcher also had an impact on football and in particular in the city of Liverpool. Following the Heysel disaster in 1985 Mrs Thatcher pressured the FA to ban all English clubs indefinitely from European competition.

Her wish was granted when UEFA banned all English clubs for what they stated was “an indeterminate period of time”. Liverpool received an additional ban of “indeterminate plus three years”, or more precisely, three further years in which Liverpool qualified for European competition. If they didn’t, the ban would roll on until they did.

With her arguable dislike for the city and for football and football supporters in general, it was just the excuse she needed to put the boot into football just the way she had with the miners.

The infamous ID card scheme was brought about by Thatcher and her advisors in the aftermath of Heysel for football supporters to gain entry into football stadiums and to “do something” about football hooliganism in the country. The scheme was only scrapped after the Hillsborough disaster.

Thatcher’s role in the immediate aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster remains unclear. It was believed that the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel’s report could shed some light on her behaviour and comments in the days and weeks and months following the tragedy.

But Mrs Thatcher did voice concern that a 1989 report into Hillsborough constituted a “devastating criticism” of police.

Mrs Thatcher had already been warned the interim report was “very damning” of police but attached “little or no blame” to Liverpool fans.

She was told in a memo from a civil servant the interim report found the chief superintendent in charge at Hillsborough “behaved in an indecisive fashion” and senior officers infuriated the judge seeking to “duck all responsibility when giving evidence” to his inquiry.

But Mrs Thatcher made clear in her handwritten note that she did not want to give the government’s full backing to Lord Taylor’s criticisms, only to the way in which he had conducted his inquiry and made recommendations for action.

She wrote: “What do we mean by welcoming the broad thrust of report ? The broad thrust is devastating criticism of the police. Is that for us to welcome ? Surely we welcome the thoroughness of the report and its recommendations –M.T.”

We do know that she only wanted to protect her valued police force from the whole disaster and this leaves Liverpool supporters disliking her as Liverpool supporters and their families had their reputations tarnished for all those years while lies were spread of the events of the disaster where Thatcher wanted those guilty of negligence protected.

Although it has been a long time since Thatcher ruled this country, feelings are still raw in Liverpool and not many tears will be shed today in Liverpool.

R.I.P. Maggie

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Respecting The 96

15 Apr

 

Respecting The 96

24 years ago today 96 football supporters attended a football match never to return home.

It should never happen, but it did.

It could have been me or you, but we were lucky.

It could have been any team’s supporters.

Tragically it was Liverpool supporters.

The loss of lives was tragic enough.

But the aftermath and blame directed at the supporters

Was disgusting.

Supporters that were there that day tried to save their friends.

They thought they would come home heroes.

How wrong could they be.

The headlines in the Sun tarnished them.

The outrageous lies

No respect for the dead

The supporters did everything they could to help that day

While the authorities did nothing.

Liverpool supporters knew they were not to blame

And a massive cover up prevented the truth

But against all the odds and the corruption of the system

The fight for justice won the day

When at long last the truth of the disaster was made public

The years of being blamed

The years fighting for justice

The years fighting for the 96

Too many names to mention that helped bring the truth to the public.

Respect has finally been recognised

After the public’s shock from the truth

April the 15th will always be a sad day for Liverpool Football Club

But the 96 will never be forgotten

And they have made Liverpool Football Club stronger

Today is the anniversary of the tragedy

But every day the 96 are in our thoughts

You Will Never Walk Alone

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Reading 0-0 Liverpool Match Report

14 Apr

here is the link to buy my brand new e-book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kopite-View-Season-2012-13-ebook/dp/B00BMW7JTA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1362780961&sr=1-1  the royalties will go to help families of the Hillsborough Tragedy. 

Reading 0-0 Liverpool Match Report

Liverpool left the Madejski Stadium frustrated after missing numerous chances to win the match against a Reading side fighting for their Premiership survival.  Reading goalkeeper Alex McCarthy was the main reason why Liverpool failed to find a winning goal as he produced numerous saves to keep the Reds at bay.

The Team

Brendan Rodgers made just the one change to the side that started against West Ham last weekend, with Sturridge replacing Stewart Downing. The rest of the team included Reina in goal, with Johnson, Enrique, Agger and Carragher in defence. Coutinho, Lucas, Gerrard and Henderson were the midfield with Suarez in attack.

The Match

Prior to kick-off Reading paid an emotional tribute to the 96 Liverpool supporters who died at Hillsborough ahead of Monday’s 24th anniversary of the disaster with a minute’s silence.

Liverpool dominated possession in the early stages of the match without creating any chances until the 14th minute, when Coutinho split the Reading defence with a clever pass sending Suarez through on goal, but the striker’s dinked finish past McCarthy was headed off the goaline by Gunter.

Liverpool continued to press and Sturridge saw an effort blocked by McCarthy before Coutinho’s low curling effort was tipped around the base of the post by the inspired goalkeeper. From the resulting corner, Carragher headed narrowly over.

It was one-way traffic as Reading fought to stay in the game against constant Liverpool pressure. Suarez saw another effort saved by McCarthy before Gerrard volleyed the rebound at the legs of Karacan.

Coutinho blasted high and wide after Sturridge saw his run into the box halted. Then just before half-time Sturridge was denied by a point-blank save from McCarthy following a corner before Agger headed inches past the wrong side of the post.

Liverpool finally put the ball in the Reading net moments after the re-start when Coutinho flicked home a Gerrard centre, but his effort was ruled offside.

The second half continued in the same pattern as the first half with Liverpool continuing to create chances. Rodgers introduced Downing for Jordan Henderson for the last half hour as his team continued to search for the opening goal.

Coutinho then skimmed an effort wide of the far post after a Sturridge cut-back. But Reading almost stole the lead against the run of play when Pogrebnyak’s centre found Hunt only yards out but Reina made a stunning point-blank save to keep the score level.

Reading called Reina into action again when McAnuff’s 12 yard drive had to be tipped over the bar by the Spaniard as the hosts enjoyed their best spell of the game.

But it wasn’t long before Liverpool were back on the attack as Suarez saw a great effort from a free-kick clip the outside of the post before Downing drilled a shot off target after cutting in from the right flank.

Liverpool continued right to the end in search for the winning goal but they were left bewildered by the form of Reading keeper McCarthy as he pulled off stunning late saves from Gerrard and then Suarez before Sturridge fired over the bar when presented with a great chance as Reading held out for a share of the points.

Summary

Another frustrating day for Liverpool as Reading somehow managed to keep Liverpool out. Frustration has been a common theme this season as Liverpool must be left wondering how they never managed to win this match. A catalogue of missed chances including poor finishing and outstanding goalkeeping from the inspired McCarthy led to Liverpool’s frustration as they continue to search for the recipe of consistency in their results. But many positives must be taken from the game as the drive and determination to get that vital goal right up to the final whistle was encouraging as the players showed great attitude in creating so many chances. Another clean sheet was another positive to take from the game. Gerrard’s energy to drive his players on was inspirational as he proved once again that he has a few miles left in his tank yet. But overall another disappointing result for Liverpool and the search for consistency continues.

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