D'Arcy on 24/8/2009 at 22:58
Was Liverpool considered a serious challenger? I seriously dislike Benitez anyway, so I won't feel too sorry to see them crash and burn.
From what I've seen so far, Chelsea is the team that impressed me the most. Arsenal is more fun to watch though (but then they play against teams like Chelsea and get easily beaten).
SD on 25/8/2009 at 01:33
Quote Posted by D'Juhn Keep
Liverpool's title challenge: finished or over?
Probably over before the season began. The team is actually weaker than it was last season, when we really
should have won the league.
That's largely down to our bastard owners. Benitez (I love the guy, don't care what you say D'Arcy!) was promised a transfer budget of £20m (ie the TV money) plus whatever he raised from sales - not unreasonable for one of the largest clubs in the world in the richest league in the world.
However, thanks to Tom Hicks (yes, the guy who owns the Texas Rangers) and George Gillett (erstwhile proprietor of the Montreal Canadiens), that's not been forthcoming. This is because they bought the club with £400m secured on the club, immediately after promising not to load any debt on the club. These loans needed to be refinanced this summer, as the credit crunch has taken a serious toll on the holdings of Messrs Hicks and Gillett. The result is that most of the transfer budget has been spent paying off the debt that these two jokers are responsible for, a debt which grows by £1m in interest every 10 days or so.
Meanwhile, two and a half years later, we're still waiting for work to start on the 70,000 seater stadium we need, even though we were told work would start within 30 days of the takeover.
So yeah. Lying Yank bastards shaft sports team. Same old story.
D'Arcy on 26/8/2009 at 01:23
Quote Posted by SD
Benitez (I love the guy, don't care what you say D'Arcy!)
He's Spanish. That alone is reason enough for me to dislike him ;)
What you say regarding the transfer budget might be true, but it's also true that Benitez has gone through some serious spending since his arrival at Anfield. As for this year's team, you lost Xabi Alonso (which would always be hard to replace) and Arbeloa (I actually prefer Glen Johnson), if I'm not mistaken. So the team doesn't seem to be particularly weaker.
SD on 26/8/2009 at 02:21
Quote Posted by D'Arcy
What you say regarding the transfer budget might be true, but it's also true that Benitez has gone through some serious spending since his arrival at Anfield.
It's a rich league. If you look at his net spending since he's been here, it only amounts to the TV money. Chelsea and United have spent more, and so have Tottenham and now Manchester City.
Quote Posted by D'Arcy
As for this year's team, you lost Xabi Alonso (which would always be hard to replace) and Arbeloa (I actually prefer Glen Johnson), if I'm not mistaken. So the team doesn't seem to be particularly weaker.
Losing Alonso is a big loss, he was last year's player of the season. His replacement Aquilani might be awesome, but he won't be fit for 6 weeks at least.
Johnson is an improvement over Arbeloa. We have also lost Sami Hyppia and got some Greek bloke I've never heard of as replacement. At best, the squad is only as strong as it was last season, and you can't afford to stand still in this league. The manager has not been supported adequately. He was told he had £20m plus player sales to spend, but he hasn't seen the £20m and he's only been given some of the money from sales. £30m has vanished into a big hole dug by two lying sacks of shit.
D'Juhn Keep on 17/10/2009 at 16:14
If Liverpool need more money they could always sell more beach balls
SD on 17/10/2009 at 16:33
Wouldn't be a problem if the match official had applied the laws of the game correctly.
Hope he never referees again.
SD on 17/10/2009 at 17:16
Quote:
Extra balls on the field of playIf an extra ball enters the field of play during the match, the referee must stop the match only if it interferes with play. Play must be restarted by a dropped ball in the position where the match ball was at the time when the match was stopped, unless play was stopped inside the goal area, in which case the referee drops the ball on the goal area line parallel to the goal line at the point nearest to where the ball was located when play was stopped.
If an extra ball enters the field of play during the match without interfering with play, the referee must have it removed at the earliest possible opportunity.
To the best of my knowledge, the above law does not only apply to official match balls, but to any other kind of ball that might intrude on the field of play, including the beachball that was the cause of the only goal today.
Matthew on 18/10/2009 at 12:02
If every referee who misapplied the rules was prevented from officiating again we'd have about one left.
