Anfield Road

Forget the media-driven circus off the field, the place to keep your eyes this afternoon is on the pitch as Manchester United are the guests at Anfield for this 4th round cup tie.

Liverpool were outstanding on Wednesday as they sent Manchester City out of the Carling Cup and booked a place at Wembley, more of the same today could see Kenny Dalglish’s side in contention for a second trip to the new version of what used to be known as Anfield south.

Both sides should be up for this, even allowing for the usual motivation this fixture brings. Manchester United in particular might fear this is their main hope for silverware this season if their neighbours continue to keep them off top spot in the league. “Liverpool exist to win trophies,” so the old saying goes, and one man who is likely to have that belief is Mr Dalglish.

Andy Carroll was on the bench on Wednesday with Craig Bellamy keeping him out – and deservedly so given the performance Bellamy put in. Carroll starts today with Bellamy on the bench. Dirk Kuyt put in arguably his best performance of the season on Wednesday but he also drops to the bench, his replacement is Maxi Rodriguez.

At the back Martin Kelly comes in for Glen Johnson and Jamie Carragher also starts. Whether he plays in midfield – he’s in the side at the expense of Charlie Adam – remains to be seen, but it looks like Kenny is planning to use three centre-backs.

For the other lot Wayne Rooney is out of the starting line up, Patrice Evra starts as captain with veterans Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes also in from the off.

Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Agger, Skrtel, Carragher, Enrique, Henderson, Gerrard, Downing, Maxi, Carroll.
Subs: Doni, Johnson, Coates, Kuyt, Adam, Shelvey, Bellamy.

Manchester United: De Gea, Rafael, Smalling, Evans, Evra, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Valencia, Welbeck, Park.
Subs: Lindegaard, Fabio, Ferdinand, M Keane, Pogba, Berbatov, Hernandez.

Freddie Kanouté, the former West Ham and Tottenham striker now playing in Spain for Sevilla, agrees that despite the FA’s reluctance to accept it the Liverpool striker Luis Suárez might well have been punished for cultural differences.

Kanouté told the BBC’s World Football Focus that he’s seen those cultural differences first-hand, including in Seville where he’s now been based for six years and is fluent in the Spanish language: “It’s different in every country you know.

“Here, some people, they have a way to talk to each other. It’s true; when I arrived here I was a bit shocked because that’s their way to express themselves.”

Suárez was banned for eight matches after an FA-appointed panel decided he wasn’t a credible witness and instead took the word of his accuser, Patrice Evra, finding a charge of insulting behaviour with a reference to race proven. A 115-page report was issued where the panel tried to justify their reasons for making that decision, but few who have commented on the case have taken the time to read it in full, meaning the inconsistencies it is littered with have had very little coverage.
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IN a parallel universe somewhere, if such things exist, the Liverpool –Manchester United league game in October turned out a little bit differently. The first fifty-odd minutes were exactly the same; the rest of the game, to all but a couple of people, looked to have carried on exactly the same too. 

Evra still had that little tantrum about losing the toss. He still told the ref to book Downing and still got away without being booked himself. He still went down writhing in agony for what looked at least from some angles as an innocuous challenge from Suárez. If he was asked later why he’d writhed around in agony following that type of challenge he’d still say it was more painful for him to be caught there because of existing injury problems.

Five minutes after that challenge Evra still said something (best not repeated) to Suárez, something Suárez still didn’t hear. But in this parallel universe Suárez responded to the rest of Evra’s pestering with a word picked up from one of the local lads at Anfield.
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A COUPLE of weeks ago I started something I’d loosely titled “An open letter to Piara Powar, Lord Ouseley and the rest of them.” In the first paragraph it asked: “Are you all the same you anti-discrimination campaigners?”

I didn’t finish it; it was one of those pieces that have no end in sight because there’s so much to say. And this is no shorter, so apologies if you don’t like reading anything too lengthy.

It followed on from comments by Piara Powar, the latest in a number, that had themselves followed on from comments Lord Ouseley and a number of other anti-discrimination campaigners. It was shortly after the incident at Anfield involving Tom Adeyemi.

None of the more prominent anti-discrimination campaigners, along with the members of the press so eager to give them a platform to spout from, seemed to grasp exactly what was at the heart of Liverpool’s stance on the Luis Suárez incident. Those who have spoken out about it and defended the club or the player have been branded as racist and that has been fuelled in a large part by the comments made by Ouseley, Powar and a number of other anti-discrimination campaigners.

What they are all unable – or unwilling – to grasp is that people who were defending Suárez were not condoning racism. Continue Reading →

A LETTER from Alex Ferguson to Manchester United supporters urging they behave at Anfield on Saturday has nothing to do with the recent Patrice Evra incident last October. Suggestions from some that Liverpool should now follow suit are either ill-advised, lazy or an attempt to stir up a bit more trouble.

When Manchester United played at Anfield last season in Liverpool’s 3-1 win the behaviour of the visiting supporters led to the Ground Safety Advisory group recommending a cut in allocation for their next visit. The group compared behaviour by away supporters at a different Anfield fixtures with that of the visit from the Old Trafford side and felt there were safety issues in the way the Manchester United fans conducted themselves.

As a result of this the group recommended the visitors have their allocation cut from 3,015 to 1,965, primarily as an attempt to deal with the issue of the blocking of gangways. The Group said:
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LIVERPOOL are at The Reebok Stadium to take on Bolton Wanderers, a side currently second-from bottom in the table, for tonight’s early-evening kick-off. The games comes ahead of a double-header of cup matches for the Reds in the course of the next week.

Stewart Downing is on the bench for this one, along with Dirk Kuyt, Jamie Carragher and Sebastian Coates. Daniel Agger has recovered from injury and returns to the back four that has served the Reds so well this season, alongside Enrique, Johnson and Skrtel.

The captain starts, Gerrard involved alongside Henderson and Adam. Maxi, Craig Bellamy and Andy Carroll all come into to the starting line-up.

Former Reds striker David Ngog starts for Bolton.
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THERE was much sadness amongst the Liverpool supporter community today at the news of the passing Paul Rice.

Paul was one of the founders of the Spirit of Shankly, the Liverpool supporters’ union, and was a vice president as well as the vice-chair of the organisation.

Paul Rice

Paul chaired the first meeting of what later became the Spirit of Shankly at the Sandon, holding together a group of around 350 angry Liverpool supporters who all wanted something done about the impending crisis their club was in. Many people deserve credit for their part in the formation of the union but had Paul not been there to keep order that first night the union may never have gone on to be the success it became. 350 angry voices became “the noise that refused to be dealt with”.

He was also chosen to represent Liverpool fans in the Merseyside area for the club’s own Supporters’ Committee, formed after the change of ownership of the club.

He was Chief Executive of Liverpool Commercial District Partnership, a role he took up in 2006 following on from two years as Chief Executive of the Manchester City Centre Management Company. He started out at Liverpool City Council, where he worked for 14 years before becoming Town Centre Manager for Warrington Borough Council. After two years in the private sector as Regional Development Manager at Clear Channel, he returned to Liverpool City Council to become City Centre Manager. He was also Company Secretary of Baltic Creative CIC in Liverpool.

Spirit of Shankly announced his passing at lunchtime today, describing him as “an inspiration to all who met him.”

Paul Rice RIP

It is with deep regret and sadness that the Spirit of Shankly have to announce that one of the founders and Vice President of the union, Paul Rice, passed away peacefully in his sleep at the Marie Curie hospice at 11am this morning.

Paul was an inspiration to all who met him and was a dedicated and passionate member of the organisation, always giving leadership and advice.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this very sad time.

YNWA

Tributes poured in for a man who made a difference.

Tony Barrett, of The Times, said: “Paul Rice – friend, confidant & inspiration. Rest in peace mate.”

Jay McKenna, of Spirit of Shankly, said: “Gutted to hear the news about Paul Rice. Truly inspirational and one of the best, most knowledgeable individuals I have met. RIP”

Paul Gardner, also of Spirit of Shankly, said: “Absolutely gutted to hear about Paul Rice. One of the greatest people I’ve ever met. An inspiration.  I learnt a lot from Paul. Learnt things that will stay with me forever. To know him and work with him with SOS was a great honour. RIP Paul. YNWA.”

Peter Hooton said: “Paul Rice was an inspiration to all that met him. From Chair of the Broadgreen Labour Party to his leadership of the SOS – a true hero RIP!”

Liverpool FC Managing Director Ian Ayre said: “I was fortunate to have known Paul personally and he was a true fan, and also an excellent businessman. Paul was a leading figure in the representations between the club and the fans in our ownership issues some time back and I had huge respect for the way he conducted himself in my dealings with him. He will be sadly missed.”

The Hillsborough Justice Campaign also paid tribute, saying: “The HJC is saddened to hear of the death of Paul Rice this morning. A driving force behind SOS, Paul will be sadly missed. The HJC offers its sincerest condolences to Paul’s family. You have lost a principled, committed man but his legacy will long live on.”

Sam Armstrong, like Paul a member of both the SOS Management Committee and the LFC Supporters’ Committee, said: “Sleep peacefully Mr Chairman. Your advice and support were invaluable. Will really miss our little chats Paul. XXXXX YNWA”

The Anfield Wrap: “On behalf of everyone at The Anfield Wrap we offer our deepest sympathies and condolences to Paul’s family. Paul was a great Liverpudlian in all senses of that word, a gentleman; it was a pleasure to have known him, to have met him or to have even known of him.”

Rest in peace Paul Rice. 

Barclays Premier League – January 14 2012

Liverpool v Stoke City

THE REDS start today’s match against Stoke with a number of changes from the side that beat Manchester City 1-0 in midweek.

Daniel Agger is injured and missing from the squad; Andy Carroll has dropped to the bench.

Alongside Carroll on the bench are Craig Bellamy and Jonjo Shelvey, with three defenders – Martin Kelly, Jon Flanagan and Fabio Aurelio making up the remainder of the outfield subs.

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Barclays Premier League – January 14 2012

Liverpool v Stoke City

Liverpool welcome Stoke City to Anfield for a less rare than usual 3pm Saturday kick-off. Last time the two sides met was in the League Cup at Stoke’s place where Luis Suárez scored twice as The Reds came back from behind to win 2-1

The little Uruguayan isn’t available today as he continues to serve an 8-game ban, meaning he also misses out on the chance to play in the same fixture he made his Reds debut in. That was just under a year ago, last February, with Suárez’s debut goal adding to one from Meireles to give Liverpool a 2-0 win.

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