By LFC Vancouver member Ste Speed, 21 March 07.

Sunday’s game against Aston Villa was probably the worst I’ve seen this season, it was dull and boring. To be honest though I feared it would be an uncreative game as soon as I saw the starting line-up. With both Sissoko and Mascherano starting in central midfield it was hard to imagine where anything creative was going to come from. Both are holding players in the Didi Hamman mould and neither player is well renowned for their passing abilities, particularly Momo. The game was crying out for Gerrard or Alonso to be in the centre and in my opinion it took far too long for Xabi to be brought into the action. I don’t know what’s gone wrong with Sissoko lately. Last season he was awesome and the comparisons to Patrick Viera weren’t far off the mark. But recently, since he came back from injury, his performances have been awful. He defended well against Barcelona but he gives the ball away far too sloppily. Hopefully this is just a dip in form and won’t be a long term problem.

It really saddened me to see that the players just didn’t look bothered, I’m not even sure if they broke a sweat. Unfortunately this wasn’t the first time this has happened this season either, particularly away from home. Jamie Carragher was talking earlier this week about us being so inconsistent in terms of domestic and European performances. It genuinely looked as though the players were thinking ahead to PSV Eindhoven rather than the team they were playing against that day.

This was our third straight game in which we haven’t scored a goal. Possibly due to the central midfield pairing our strikers where reduced to just two proper chances on goal. Kuyt had a good chance in the first five minutes and then there was nothing until substitute Fowler almost headed in a half chance near the end. Maybe we should give Robbie Fowler more games as his goals to games ratio is better than the other guys this season, especially when he starts games. Kuyt needs to get in the box more. I appreciate how hard he works all over the pitch but he is a striker. He needs to stay in the area and let the other guys run around so he can be on the end of any chances that come his way.

Scoring goals seems to have been a serious problem this season, it looks worse if you think about how many chance’s we create. This season Liverpool has failed to score in twelve league games. That’s just not good enough for a team that wants to challenge for first place. These are the scoring statistics for all four of our strikers in the league this season.

Man Utd’s top two scorers are Ronaldo with 16 league goals and Rooney with 12 league goals.

This has to be a major reason why we are so far behind both of these teams this season. Last season Steven Gerrard scored 23 goals in total and so far this season he has 7 including 5 in the league. Our away form has been bad, but we have to improve our goal scoring. It’s ironic that our defence is so top notch with 17 clean sheets so far this season.

It’s obvious that in the Summer Rafa needs to buy at least one, if not two, world class and proven strikers. Let’s just hope that these players are out there and available and willing to sign for us.

Up next for the Reds is the visit of Arsenal to Anfield next Saturday. Hopefully the results from the previous three matches against the Gunners this season will provide decent motivation to get our revenge. The battle is heating up for third and fourth place and Everton did us a great favour with their last minute victory over Arsenal last Sunday.

I know we aren’t technically guaranteed a top four finish but if you look at the run in to the end of the season all our final games are winnable. In our last seven games of the season we play Reading, Man City, Middlesbrough, Wigan, Portsmouth, Fulham and finally Charlton. The last game might be tough if Charlton are still fighting to stay up but it’s at home so I think we’ll beat them.

I want to close this week with two pieces of positive news. First of all congratulations to the youth team for beating Newcastle 3-1 to reach the FA Youth Cup Final for the second successive year. Let’s hope they can win it again too. Steve Heighway continues to do a great job with the lads in the academy.

Congratulations also to Steven Gerrard who became an MBE this week. Overdue in my opinion as he should have won one after the Champions League victory in 2005, as should Carragher. However it’s a great honour for our captain and a great honour for Liverpool FC too so I’m made up for the lad.

What do you think? Give Ste your comments at steSpeed [at] lfcvancouver.com.

By LFC Vancouver member Keith Perkins, 21 March 07.

There’s a classic psychology experiment where a person is told that they’ll be given a bonus payment of a hundred dollars (or pounds, or euros, or other currency) at the end of next week. The individual then starts thinking about how they are going to spend this unexpected bonus, and naturally they will feel good thinking that they will soon have enough money for a nice meal out at a favourite restaurant, or to buy some new clothes, or whatever it is that they have their mind set on. But, just a couple of days before the expected payment, the experimenter says, “I’m sorry, but you won’t be getting that bonus.” Of course that is terrible news, and the person feels cheated and may very well say so. “But what are you complaining about?” asks the experimenter, “You’re no worse off than you were before so there’s no loss to you.” The result of the experiment is that the subject feels really disappointed to have missed out, almost as much as if they had actually lost the same amount themselves. It’s the build-up of expectation followed by the let down-of the reversal that makes it so hard to take; and the bigger the build-up, the worse the disappointment and sense of being cheated. If only we didn’t have to face the same kind of situation ourselves right now.

When Rafa Benitez became the new Liverpool manager in the summer of 2004, many of us could be excused for wondering if he was the right man for the job. Could this man, who barely spoke English, come in from the Spanish League and somehow bring success to us in the Premier League considering that he had no experience and plenty of others had failed before him? I was one of many who were sceptical of his abilities, and I wondered why we hadn’t just handed the job over to Phil Thompson. Or, if it was decided that there had to be a whole new regime, then surely there was someone (such as Martin O’Neil) who would be a more obvious choice. However, I’m always willing to give the benefit of the doubt and if the board had decided that Rafa was the man for the job then who was I to disagree? What we wanted more than anything at that stage was to win the League – something we hadn’t done for fourteen years.

That first season started with a 1-1 draw, away against Tottenham. A bit of an anti-climax really but at least Djibril Cissé, our new record signing from Auxerre opened his account on his debut. After that it was a season of mixed results to say the least. We stuttered from time to time at home, losing 3 and drawing 3, but winning 13. Away from Anfield, we lost 11, drew 4, and won 4. It was obvious that our away form was really hurting us in that first season under Rafa, and it was equally obvious that we were nowhere near being a championship contender. The season finished with us managing a dismal fifth place with 58 points, one place lower and two points fewer than the previous season under Gerard Houllier. If it wasn’t for the heroics of the Champions League we would have been looking forward to the consolation prize of a season in the UEFA Cup, while our neighbours would be gloating over their qualification for Europe’s premier competition. Still, we didn’t realistically expect to win the League that first season; most managers would honestly say that it will take considerable time to make the necessary improvements for that. For example, when Gerard Houllier took over as manager he said that he had a five year plan and that we must be patient. We were, but after three consecutive seasons of underachievement, we lost that patience and decided it was time to look for a new manager.

It was easy to see that we urgently needed to improve our away form if we were to make any gains for the following season. If we could just turn the losses to draws and the draws to wins, then we would have an easy twenty points or more, which would put us way up chasing second place. Beyond that then who knows - we might even make a title challenge.

Rafa’s second season started with a scoreless draw away at Middlesbrough. We continued slowly with a couple of draws and only one win in our first five matches. That didn’t look very promising but we did start to pick up the pace after making progress in Europe (again). Once we started scoring goals away from home we found that we could win those away matches and by the end of the season we had managed to improve our home record with fifteen wins, one loss and three draws, and our away form had drastically improved with five losses, four draws and ten wins. That was enough to give us 82 points, and enough for third place - just a point behind second. That was a dramatic increase of 24 points, slightly more than what we had hoped for. We hadn’t just gained a place in the standings, as we did each season under Houllier, we had jumped two places. If we could do that again the following season then we would definitely be in title contention.

Rafa had already bought wisely in the summer transfer window of the summer of 2005, and had added another couple in January. Then, in the summer of 2006 he brought in more players and surely our prospects were as good as they possibly had been for some time. But, it was another slow start with another third draw for the third consecutive opening match of the season (1-1 away to Sheffield United) and another series of disappointing performances, especially away from home, that now finds us late in the season in fourth place. After last Sunday’s dour performance that resulted in a dismal draw at Villa Park we have eight games remaining and a possible maximum of 78 points. That would be four points below last season’s total, and of course would be only if we win all of our remaining eight games.

Somehow, we have performed magnificently again in Europe, having topped our group and then knocking out last year’s champions Barcelona. If we’re not careful we’ll find ourselves in fifth place by the end of the season and hoping to win the Champions League again as the only way to qualify for next season. That scenario wouldn’t be so bad, and I don’t think too many of us would be upset if that was to be the end result of the season; but we wanted the League title more than anything else and it’s been clear for a long while now that it’s not going to happen for us this time, making it seventeen years now and still counting. The most frustrating part is that we took those two steps forward to third place at the end of the second season, and now we’re looking at one step back to fourth for the end of the third season.

I don’t know what the answer is, and to be honest I don’t think anybody can offer a simple cure. From what I’ve seen, mostly in our away matches, there’s a lack of enthusiasm. I don’t understand why but it seems as though the pace of the game is slower, the passes go astray more often, and the players don’t seem to know what to do and look confused. It could be fatigue, or it could be simple lack of motivation from knowing that the League is already lost. I just hope that Rafa knows what’s wrong, and knows how to fix it. It’s easy to say that we need more players and especially some players of quality, but we know from past experience that they don’t always work out as expected (no names necessary, I’m sure you can think of your own examples). Our one consolation for this season is that we are still in the Champions League at the quarter-final stage, and we have as good a chance as anyone to win it all.

For me, this Premier League season is pretty much over. The remaining eight games are going to be of little interest other than the Arsenal match which could be the decider for which one of us finishes third and fourth. There’s more money at stake for finishing third, but in the grand scheme of things it’s not enough to worry about. Both the third and fourth place teams still have to go through the qualifying round for entry into the Champions League for next season, so does it really matter? Other than some pride the answer is no, not really.

Surely it will be better next season. I don’t think anybody would find the current situation acceptable, and there will be moves to correct that. Whatever Rafa does in terms of transfers in and out this summer (and I don’t expect there will be much activity there), it will be with an eye to improving the League performance as a priority. We have a core squad of players that will improve with time, especially Gonzalez, Aurelio, Arbeloa, Mascherano, Pennant, and Kuyt. It takes time for the new players to be “bedded in” with the other players and the team’s system of play, and Rafa will be intent on making it work. We also don’t have a World Cup to distract the players, and so this summer should be a well earned rest for all of them. With that in mind, we should see them coming back in July/August with renewed energy, ready to meet the challenges of the season ahead.

I don’t question if Rafa is the right man for the job, he’s given us enough over the first couple of seasons alone to be happy about, and I honestly don’t think that there’s a better manager out there. We have to be patient yet again, and trust that the performances and the results will come. But it’s obviously going to take more time. There has to be improvement next season, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. That feeling of expectation and then disappointment again would be too much to take.

What do you think? Give Keith your comments at keith [at] lfcvancouver.com.

By LFC Vancouver Member Janet Dee, 1995.

By LFC Vancouver member Ste Speed, 20 March 07.

Midway through the 1986/87 season the shocking news was announced that Ian Rush was leaving Liverpool to join Juventus for three million pounds at the end of the season. At the time this was very upsetting and devastating news for Reds fans, imagine how you would feel if you woke up tomorrow and saw the headlines that Gerrard or Carragher were leaving Liverpool. That gives you a rough idea how it felt back then with the news about Ian Rush going to Italy.

So the speculation naturally began as to who would replace Rushie. I don’t think anyone genuinely believed it was possible to be honest, which just added to the pain and worry. A few names were bandied about in the press including Mark Hateley whose father Tony played for Liverpool in the 1960’s. Also linked was Charlie Nicholas of Arsenal, who a few months later went on to score the winner against Liverpool in the League Cup Final. An interesting fact about that particular match is that it was the first occasion in which we lost a game when Ian Rush had scored first. In January 1987 the speculation was over when Kenny Dalglish signed a Scouser who was also an Ian Rush look-alike, it was our man John Aldridge. He was signed from Oxford United on January 27th 1987 for £750,000.

Aldo grew up on Merseyside as a huge Liverpool fan, spending many hours standing on the Kop cheering on his heroes. He was a great footballer at school and my dad and his brothers actually played against him in school matches. Due to lack of money for proper boots, my dad used to play footy wearing his dad’s old hobnail boots that were two sizes too big. One time in a game involving Aldo playing for a rival school team, my dad went to kick the ball and his boot flew off hitting the referee in the head, knocking him unconscious. What made the incident even funnier was that the referee was also my dad’s school headmaster!

John Aldridge didn’t turn professional until he was almost twenty-one after plying his trade in non-league football for South Liverpool. He played for Newport County and then Oxford United with an outstanding goal scoring record at both clubs and at Oxford he had the fantastic achievement of a goal every 1.25 games.

The end of the 86/87 season was quite depressing for Liverpool fans. We finished the season without winning a trophy. The league title was won by Everton, we lost in the League Cup Final and Ian Rush moved to Italy. Things could only get better but I don’t think even the most optimistic Kopite could have predicted just how much better things were about to become. The double signing of Peter Beardsley from Newcastle United and John Barnes from Watford was a masterstroke from King Kenny in the summer of 1987.

The opening day of the 87/88 season was a sign of things to come as we beat Arsenal at Highbury two-nil with goals from Aldo and Steve Nicol. I’ve said this many times before and I will say it again now, this was the best Liverpool team I have ever witnessed. It wasn’t just the twenty nine game unbeaten streak it was the way we played. It was a joy to watch the skill, especially from Barnes and Beardsley as we just outplayed everyone we came up against. Memorable victories that season include the Barnes one man show against QPR and the famous five – nil against Nottingham Forest. Aldo went on to score twenty six goals in thirty six games to help drive us to our seventeenth league championship.

The only blip on the season came right at the end with the 1988 FA Cup final against Wimbledon. Aldridge had scored both goals in the semi final win against Nottingham Forest and going into the final we were the overwhelming favourites. I remember the night before the match I was talking about it with my dad and he was so confident he predicted a five – nil win for Liverpool. We listened to the ‘Anfield Rap’ which was our cup final song that year and got in the mood for the next day which would surely end in a second double for Liverpool. Unfortunately The Crazy Gang had other plans. Vinny Jones instantly made his intentions clear when he whacked Steve McMahon hard from the kick-off and after that we never really managed to get into the game. I haven’t seen it since watching it live but from memory there were only two moments in the match in which I can recall us threatening to score. The first was a disallowed goal from Peter Beardsley when the referee had already blown for a Liverpool free kick and didn’t play the advantage. The second big moment is one of the most famous in football history when John Aldridge had a penalty saved by Dave Beasant. It was the first penalty ever to be missed in an FA Cup Final. A goal from Lawrie Sanchez was enough to give Wimbledon the trophy and stop us winning a second double in three years.

Heartbreak was soon turned into excitement in the summer of 1988 when Ian Rush made a surprising return from Juventus after spending only one season in Turin. Speculation soon mounted as to who would be the preferred strike partnership with Aldridge and Beardsley both assumed to be competing to partner Rush. Most people predicted it would be Aldridge who would make way for Rush as it was thought that Aldo and Rushie were too similar and wouldn’t play well together. However this was wrong and people forgot they had already played well together in the second half of the 86/87 season. It was actually Aldridge who had the more successful season as Rush took a long time to really get his form back after a bad season with Juventus. Starting with two goals in the Charity Shield win against Wimbledon, Aldo went on another goal scoring streak while Rush spent long periods on the bench.

On the 15th April, 1989, ninety-six Liverpool fans died at Hillsborough during the FA Cup semi final against Nottingham Forest. The tragedy deeply affected the entire city of Merseyside and the players themselves. The entire team was absolutely devastated and local born players such as Aldridge and Steve McMahon were affected in an even deeper way having been supporters themselves. After a number of weeks without play the difficult decision was made between the club and the bereaved families to continue with the season and try to win in honour of those who had died.

Aldridge scored in the replayed FA Cup semi final to set up the second ‘all Merseyside’ FA Cup final of the 80’s. It was the perfect final for this time as supporters of both teams came together. On Merseyside lots of families, including my own, contain both Blues and Reds. It was a terrific game, Aldo opened the scoring and Rush came off the bench to score twice in extra time and win the trophy for Liverpool in a three- two victory. Liverpool may have won the cup but the real winner that day was the city of Merseyside as the fans and players truly did themselves, the ninety six and the entire city proud.

Unfortunately a second double was cruelly denied for a second successive season as Arsenal grabbed two late goals at Anfield to steal the title on goal difference. The second goal from Michael Thomas came in injury time with virtually the last kick of the season. I remember the game was on a Friday night and the most abiding memory I have of that night was my dad’s extreme anger when he returned from his weekly darts match at the pub.

The following season Rush was fully settled back into the Anfield groove and early in the season Liverpool accepted an offer of one million pounds for Aldridge from Real Sociedad. In true Aldo style he bid his adoring fans a fond farewell, coming off the bench to score a penalty in front of the Kop in the 9-0 destruction of Crystal Palace in September 1989. At the final whistle an emotional Aldridge repaid the supporters for their support by throwing his boots and shirt into the crowd. The next day he became the first non-Basque player ever signed by Real Sociedad.

Aldo was a huge hit in Spain and became a big favourite with the Sociedad fans. He scored thirty three goals in sixty three games before moving back to Merseyside with Tranmere Rovers in 1991. He made an instant impression at Prenton Park and scored a club record forty goals in his first season.

It was while he was at Tranmere that Aldridge was involved in one of his most famous moments. It took place in Orlando, Florida during the 1994 World Cup in the USA. With Ireland trailing 2-0 to Mexico in the final group game, manager Jack Charlton tried to send Aldridge on as a substitute but was delayed by an official's sluggishness. Aldo and Big Jack both launched into expletive-laden tirades which were clearly heard by television viewers. When Aldo was finally on, after 6 minutes of trying, he scored a goal to give Ireland a chance to get back into the match. Despite losing the game 2-1, Aldridge's goal was crucial in securing qualification for the second round as they went through on goal difference.

In 1996 he became player-manager at Tranmere before hanging up his boots in 1998. While he was manager he led Tranmere to some memorable runs in cup competitions. In 2000 they reached the League Cup final where they put up a tremendous fight eventually losing to then Premiership side Leicester City. The following season Tranmere beat Southampton in one of the greatest comebacks and giant killing acts in FA Cup history. Down 3-0 at half time they came back to win 4-3. They were eventually knocked out in the quarter final 4-2 by Liverpool who were on the way to winning the treble. Unfortunately at the end of the season Tranmere were relegated to Division Two (now Division One) and Aldridge resigned as manager.

After leaving Tranmere he began a successful broadcasting career and he now co-commentates on Liverpool games and mans the phone in after the games for Merseyside radio station Radio City. His commentary during the 2005 Champions League final was brilliant entertainment as he forgets all professionalism and becomes a fan once again.

Please click here to hear a fantastic clip of him celebrating the goals on air.

Although he only spent two seasons at the club, John Aldridge will always be fondly remembered for his contributions and goals. It’s actually hard to believe it was only two seasons when you consider just how much impact he had. His 26th place in the ‘100 Players Who Shook The Kop’ series is proof of this. He is one of the greatest goal scorers British football has ever produced with a record of 474 goals in 882 games and I’m proud that he is also a Scouser and a great ambassador for Merseyside.

Video Clip:
26 - John Aldridge
Ring of Fire - John Aldridge

What do you think? Give Ste your comments at steSpeed [at] lfcvancouver.com.

By LFC Vancouver member Ste Speed , 01 February 07.

Ring of Fire - CL Remix

Ring of Fire - CL Remix.mp3

Lyrics:

Love Is A Burning Thing
And It Makes A Fiery Ring
Bound By Wild Desire
I Fell Into A Ring Of Fire

CHORUS:
I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire
I Went Down, Down, Down
And The Flames Went Higher

And It Burns, Burns, Burns
The Ring Of Fire
The Ring Of Fire

I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire
I Went Down, Down, Down
And The Flames Went Higher

And It Burns, Burns, Burns
The Ring Of Fire
The Ring Of Fire

The Taste Of Love Is Sweet
When Hearts Like Ours Meet
I Fell For You Like A Child
Oh, But The Fire Went Wild

CHORUS:
I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire
I Went Down, Down, Down
And The Flames Went Higher

And It Burns, Burns, Burns
The Ring Of Fire
The Ring Of Fire

I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire
I Went Down, Down, Down
And The Flames Went Higher

And It Burns, Burns, Burns
The Ring Of Fire
The Ring Of Fire

And It Burns, Burns, Burns

The Ring Of Fire

The Ring Of Fire

What do you think? Give Ste your comments at steSpeed [at] lfcvancouver.com.

Club 'to pay £21m charges for debt' - Liverpool Daily Post

Business Editor Bill Gleeson looks at the details to emerge on the deal to buy LFC.

More here.

Liverpool full-back Steve Finnan is currently the best defender in the Premiership according to The Actim Index.

More here.

This coming Friday marks the 30th anniversary of one of Anfield's greatest ever nights, and we want to hear from those fans who were there when Davey Fairclough quite literally shook the Kop against St Etienne.

More here.

Liverpool have agreed to sign Ross County's highly-rated teenage prospect Gary Mackay Stevens in the summer.

More here.

Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry has confirmed that the club have put building work on the new stadium in Stanley Park on hold while the plans are reviewed by the Reds' new American owners.

More here.

Liverpool have 12 players out on loan at various parts of the country and the continent at the moment. Here's how they are getting on.

More here.

LONG term Liverpool target Daniel Alves has cleared the way for a four way fight for his services by repeating his desire to play for the Reds, Barcelona, Real Madrid or Chelsea.

More here.

BRIGHTON chairman Dick Knight believes Rafa Benitez's proposal for reserve teams to play in the Football League is "insulting".

More here.

More here.

ON the surface, I'm in agreement with Liverpool’s decision to review their stadium design.

More here.

WHEN George Gillett and Tom Hicks are handed the keys to Anfield, they’ll inherit a club faced with a variety of challenges on and off the park.

More here.

YNWA/JFT 96,
Andy Neumann

Standings as of 22 March 07.

Rank	Member	Points
1	Kevin	35
2	Ste	33
2	Lance	33
4	Lance	30
5	Mark Aston	29
6	Andy	26
7	Keith	21
8	Glenn Whyte	10
9	Chris Cole	6
10	Quentin	5
11	Glenn Whitt.	3

To enter the members contest see the rules below.

RULES:

• Only open to paid LFC Vancouver Members.
• You list the names of the players you think will start the next LFC match.
• You must submit your list to lfcvancouver [at] gmail.com at least 12 hours before kick-off.
• This contest will include every match that LFC plays this season. Starting with Blackburn.
• The member(s) that correctly guess the starting XI will be awarded 5 points.
• At the end of the season the player with the most points will win the prize.
• What is the prize? It is a surprise!
• The standings will be included in each week’s newsletter.

Scoring System:

• 11 Correct picks = 5 points.
• 10 Correct picks = 3 points.
• 9 Correct picks = 1 point.
• 0-8 Correct picks = 0 points.

YNWA/JFT 96,

Andy Neumann