Liverpool Season 2008/9

[RoosterMarty]

What?? Sorry to take this off topic lads.... but you said that if Mourinho stayed at Chelsea then United wouldn't have won the last 2 titles. I then remind you that United did win the title over Mourinho's Chelsea two seasons ago. Now you think I'm talking about United beating Chelsea in a league game but didn't win the title?? I never mentioned that and infact United rarely beat them when Mourinho was in charge except for when Fletcher scored a fluke header.

[johntheclaret]

Ummm.....Liverpool Season 2008/9 ?

Take it to the Chelsea thread fella's

[johntheclaret]

I saw that ex Liverpool defender Traore has signed for Brum on loan for the rest of the season. shame he wasn't there last week

[devilsadvocate]

I saw that ex Liverpool defender Traore has signed for Brum on loan for the rest of the season. shame he wasn't there last week

I've totally missed the gag with Djime Traore. To save my lazy ass, can someone fill me in on why he's such a cult figure presumably for all the wrong reasons at Anfield?

[smithy]

BEsides Traore being another really bad purchase from Houllier, I think JTC really likes him because he scored an own goal against Burnley in an FA Cup tie that was worthy of a funniest home video nomination.

[JK]

BEsides Traore being another really bad purchase from Houllier, I think JTC really likes him because he scored an own goal against Burnley in an FA Cup tie that was worthy of a funniest home video nomination.

Traore having a Champions League Medal is like Aaron Keating having an AFL Premiership Medal

[smithy]

BEsides Traore being another really bad purchase from Houllier, I think JTC really likes him because he scored an own goal against Burnley in an FA Cup tie that was worthy of a funniest home video nomination.

Traore having a Champions League Medal is like Aaron Keating having an AFL Premiership Medal

LMAO - That is so true

[smithy]

A recent article in the Times listed their Top 50 LFC players of all time.

The Top 50 list in full:

50 Fernando Torres
49 Rob Jones
48 Peter Thompson
47 Jackie Balmer
46 Sami Hyypia
45 Matt Busby
44 Peter Beardsley
43 Elisha Scott
42 Jerzy Dudek
41 Bob Paisley
40 David Fairclough
39 Ray Clemence
38 Jan Molby
37 Phil Neal
36 Tommy Lawrence
35 Albert Stubbins
34 Chris Lawler
33 Steve McMahon
32 Steve Nicol
31 Sammy Lee
30 Gerry Byrne
29 Ronnie Whelan
28 John Toshack
27 John Aldridge
26 Dietmar Hamann
25 Steve Heighway
24 Mark Lawrenson
23 Joey Jones
22 Ray Kennedy
20 Ian Callaghan
19 Michael Owen
18 Jimmy Case
17 Emlyn Hughes
16 Phil Thompson
15 Alan Kennedy
14 Robbie Fowler
13 Ron Yeats
12 Ian St John
11 Ian Rush
10 Roger Hunt
9 Jamie Carragher
8 Billy Liddell
7 Alan Hansen
6 Kevin Keegan
5 Tommy Smith
4 Graeme Souness
3 John Barnes
2 Steven Gerrard
1 Kenny Dalglish

A few things I disagree with:

Whilst TOmmy Lawrence and Ray Clemence were very good keepers, Grobbelaar was much better than Dudek who doesn't make the list.

Any list with Rob Jones ahead of Torres ( who admittedly will climb the scales of this list in years to come) is a joke.

Any top 50 great players with Rob Jones in it is a joke.

Ray Kennedy is far too low at 22, the guy in my opinion is top 10.
Paisley reckons that of all his players, Ray was the one who generated the most interest from prospective buyers, not that they wouldv'e sold him.
Can you imagine Arsenal selling a Ray Kennedy to Liverpool these days?????

Peter Thompson is far too low at 48, he was the new generation of wingers and an absolute gun out wide.

Peter Beardsley was a much better player than Sammy lee.

Dietmar Hamann was a good servant for a few years but shouldn't make top 50 let alone 26. Especially ahead of Jan MOlby.

Glad the list didn't include Craig Johnston,, he was a $hit footballer who still looked average in a very good side.
How that bloke got a shirt is beyond me.

[johntheclaret]

Was the list a readers poll smithy.?

I just wondered. because Sammy Lee wasa Liverpool apprentice and with the club for 3 deacades? That wold have got him a ot of votes.

[Bully]

A recent article in the Times listed their Top 50 LFC players of all time.

The Top 50 list in full:

50 Fernando Torres
49 Rob Jones
48 Peter Thompson
47 Jackie Balmer
46 Sami Hyypia
45 Matt Busby
44 Peter Beardsley
43 Elisha Scott
42 Jerzy Dudek
41 Bob Paisley
40 David Fairclough
39 Ray Clemence
38 Jan Molby
37 Phil Neal
36 Tommy Lawrence
35 Albert Stubbins
34 Chris Lawler
33 Steve McMahon
32 Steve Nicol
31 Sammy Lee
30 Gerry Byrne
29 Ronnie Whelan
28 John Toshack
27 John Aldridge
26 Dietmar Hamann
25 Steve Heighway
24 Mark Lawrenson
23 Joey Jones
22 Ray Kennedy
20 Ian Callaghan
19 Michael Owen
18 Jimmy Case
17 Emlyn Hughes
16 Phil Thompson
15 Alan Kennedy
14 Robbie Fowler
13 Ron Yeats
12 Ian St John
11 Ian Rush
10 Roger Hunt
9 Jamie Carragher
8 Billy Liddell
7 Alan Hansen
6 Kevin Keegan
5 Tommy Smith
4 Graeme Souness
3 John Barnes
2 Steven Gerrard
1 Kenny Dalglish

A few things I disagree with:

Whilst TOmmy Lawrence and Ray Clemence were very good keepers, Grobbelaar was much better than Dudek who doesn't make the list.

Any list with Rob Jones ahead of Torres ( who admittedly will climb the scales of this list in years to come) is a joke.

Any top 50 great players with Rob Jones in it is a joke.

Ray Kennedy is far too low at 22, the guy in my opinion is top 10.
Paisley reckons that of all his players, Ray was the one who generated the most interest from prospective buyers, not that they wouldv'e sold him.
Can you imagine Arsenal selling a Ray Kennedy to Liverpool these days?????

Peter Thompson is far too low at 48, he was the new generation of wingers and an absolute gun out wide.

Peter Beardsley was a much better player than Sammy lee.

Dietmar Hamann was a good servant for a few years but shouldn't make top 50 let alone 26. Especially ahead of Jan MOlby.

Glad the list didn't include Craig Johnston,, he was a $hit footballer who still looked average in a very good side.
How that bloke got a shirt is beyond me.

yeah Arsenal had that a few months ago but cant be stuffed posting all the names. From memory i think Thierry got number 1 followed by Ian Wright, tony adams

[smithy]

Was the list a readers poll smithy.?

I just wondered. because Sammy Lee wasa Liverpool apprentice and with the club for 3 deacades? That wold have got him a ot of votes.

From what I can gather JTC - it journo's list.
The official site I think is compiling one from the fans so when that comes out I'll post it here to compare the 2.

[JK]

Was the list a readers poll smithy.?

I just wondered. because Sammy Lee wasa Liverpool apprentice and with the club for 3 deacades? That wold have got him a ot of votes.

From what I can gather JTC - it journo's list.
The official site I think is compiling one from the fans so when that comes out I'll post it here to compare the 2.

Didn't they do "100 Players that shook the KOP" about 2 years or so back?

Agree with your thoughts too (at least on the players I remember) Smithy, particularly Grobbelaar and Dudek, who was really only good for 10 minutes (admittedly it was a pretty handy 10 minutes though).

[smithy]

Rank Name Years Position Goals Nationality
1 Kenny Dalglish 1977-1991 Forward 172 Scotland
2 Steven Gerrard 1998-present Midfield 64 England
3 Ian Rush 1980-1996 Forward 346 Wales
4 Robbie Fowler 1993-2007 Forward 177 England
5 John Barnes 1987-1997 Winger 110 England
6 Billy Liddell 1938-1960 Winger 229 Scotland
7 Jamie Carragher 1996-present Defender 4 England
8 Kevin Keegan 1971-1977 Forward 100 England
9 Graeme Souness 1978-1984 Midfield 56 Scotland
10 Emlyn Hughes 1967-1979 Midfield 49 England
11 Ray Clemence 1967-1981 Goalkeeper 0 England
12 Alan Hansen 1977-1991 Defender 14 Scotland
13 Roger Hunt 1959-1969 Forward 286 England
14 Michael Owen 1996-2004 Forward 158 England
15 Ian Callaghan 1960-1978 Winger 68 England
16 Jan Mølby 1984-1996 Midfield 62 Denmark
17 Bruce Grobbelaar 1981-1994 Goalkeeper 0 Zimbabwe
18 David Fairclough 1974-1983 Forward 55 England
19 Peter Beardsley 1987-1991 Forward 59 England
20 Phil Neal 1974-1985 Full-Back 60 England
21 Ian St. John 1961-1971 Forward 118 Scotland
22 Steve McManaman 1989-1999 Winger 66 England
23 Steve Heighway 1970-1981 Winger 76 Ireland
24 John Arne Riise 2001-present Defender 26 Norway
25 Tommy Smith 1960-1978 Defender 48 England
26 John Aldridge 1987-1989 Forward 63 Ireland
27 Phil Thompson 1971-1985 Defender 13 England
28 Ray Kennedy 1974-1982 Midfield 72 England
29 Ron Yeats 1961-1971 Defender 16 Scotland
30 Ronnie Whelan 1979-1994 Midfield 73 Ireland
31 Alan Kennedy 1978-1985 Left-Back 21 England
32 Gary McAllister 2000-2002 Midfield 10 Scotland
33 Xabi Alonso 2004-present Midfield 8 Spain
34 John Toshack 1970-1978 Forward 96 Wales
35 Mark Lawrenson 1981-1988 Defender 18 Ireland
36 Jerzy Dudek 2001-2007 Goalkeeper 0 Poland
37 Terry McDermott 1974-1982 Midfield 81 England
38 Sami Hyypiä 1999-present Defender 26 Finland
39 Steve Nicol 1981-1995 Defender 46 Scotland
40 Jamie Redknapp 1991-2002 Midfield 41 England
41 Elisha Scott 1912-1934 Goalkeeper 0 Northern Ireland
42 Steve McMahon 1985-1991 Midfield 50 England
43 Luis García 2004-2007 Midfielder 24 Spain
44 Dietmar Hamann 1999-2006 Midfield 11 Germany
45 Jimmy Case 1973-1981 Midfield 46 England
46 Gerry Byrne 1957-1969 Full-Back 5 England
47 Sammy Lee 1977-1986 Midfield 19 England
48 Peter Thompson 1963-1974 Winger 54 England
49 Alex Raisbeck 1898-1909 Centre-Back 21 Scotland
50 Albert Stubbins 1946-1953 Forward 83 England
51 Chris Lawler 1963-1976 Right-Back 61 England
52 Ray Houghton 1987-1992 Midfield 38 Ireland
53 Markus Babbel 2000-2004 Defender 6 Germany
54 Gordon Hodgson 1926-1936 Forward 240 England
55 Steve Finnan 2003-present Right Back 1 Ireland
56 Bob Paisley 1939-1954 Defender 13 England
57 Stan Collymore 1995-1997 Forward 35 England
58 Stéphane Henchoz 1999-2005 Defender 0 Switzerland
59 Craig Johnston 1981-1988 Midfielder 40 Australia
60 Rob Jones 1991-1999 Right-Back 0 England
61 Pepe Reina 2005-present Goalkeeper 0 Spain
62 Danny Murphy 1997-2004 Midfield 44 England
63 Joey Jones 1975-1978 Left-Back 3 Wales
64 Vladimír Šmicer 1999-2005 Midfielder 19 Czech Republic
65 Mark Wright 1991-1998 Defender 7 England
66 Matt Busby 1936-1945 Wing-Half 3 Scotland
67 Djibril Cissé 2004-2007 Forward 24 France
68 Gary Gillespie 1983-1991 Defender 16 Scotland
69 Jari Litmanen 2001-2002 Forward 9 Finland
70 Ronnie Moran 1952-1969 Full-Back 16 England
71 Paul Walsh 1984-1988 Forward 37 England
72 Ephraim Longworth 1910-1928 Full-Back 0 England
73 Peter Crouch 2005-present Forward 13 England
74 Jack Balmer 1935-1952 Forward 111 England
75 Brian Hall 1968-1976 Midfield 21 England
76 Ronny Rosenthal 1990-1993 Forward 22 Israel
77 David Johnson 1976-1982 Forward 78 England
78 Sam Raybould 1900-1907 Forward 128 England
79 Patrik Berger 1996-2003 Midfield 35 Czech Republic
80 Tommy Lawrence 1957-1971 Goalkeeper 0 Scotland
81 Alan A'Court 1952-1964 Outside-Left 63 England
82 Phil Taylor 1936-1954 Defender 34 England
83 Michael Thomas 1991-1998 Midfield 12 England
84 Howard Gayle 1977-1983 Winger 1 England
85 Alec Lindsay 1969-1977 Left-Back 8 England
86 Nick Barmby 2000-2002 Midfielder 8 England
87 Alun Evans 1968-1972 Forward 33 England
88 Mark Walters 1991-1995 Winger 19 England
89 Donald McKinlay 1910-1929 Defender 34 Scotland
90 Neil Mellor 2003-2006 Forward 6 England
91 Titi Camara 1999-2000 Forward 10 Guinea
92 Harry Chambers 1915-1928 Forward 151 England
93 Momo Sissoko 2005-present Midfield 0 Mali
94 Sam Hardy 1905-1912 Goalkeeper 0 England
95 Geoff Strong 1964-1970 Utility 32 England
96 Nicolas Anelka 2001-2002 Forward 5 France
97 Nigel Clough 1993-1995 Midfield 9 England
98 Tom Bromilow 1919-1930 Left Half 11 England
99 Erik Meijer 1999-2000 Forward 2 Netherlands
100 John Wark 1984-1988 Midfield 42 Scotland

Yes Mr Perm and here it is....100 players who shook the kop

[JK]

Nicholas Anelka?

They must have really been running out of players by that stage lol

[smithy]

I agree, Top 50 would've been enough.
To have Erik Meijer, Titi Camara, Jari Litmanen, Neil Mellor and Mark Walters above John Wark is a bit harsh and also Luis Garcia before club greats such as Case, Lee, Thompson, Lawler and Houghton.
I just noticed Riise at 24 and Steve Finnan at 55,, WTF , did some of these people vote after playing Championship Manager????????

Top 50 is definitely enough.
IMO, McManaman is too high at 22.

[MST]

I agree, Top 50 would've been enough.
To have Erik Meijer, Titi Camara, Jari Litmanen, Neil Mellor and Mark Walters above John Wark is a bit harsh and also Luis Garcia before club greats such as Case, Lee, Thompson, Lawler and Houghton.
I just noticed Riise at 24 and Steve Finnan at 55,, WTF , did some of these people vote after playing Championship Manager????????

Top 50 is definitely enough.
IMO, McManaman is too high at 22.

CP and Smithy, I think you will find the '100 Players Who Shook The Kop' list was compiled not only of players who were deemed to be in the top 100 ever Liverpool players to represent the club, but also those players that, for one reason or another, were deemed 'cult figures' or did something extraordinary to warrant their place.

That being said I cannot for the life of me see how Eric Meijer made the list on either count?!

A good example would be Luis Garcia scoring at the Kop End in the CL Semi v Chelsea 2005, now that does warrant a place, surely? The Kop sure did 'shake' that European night!

[smithy]

Rumours are rife in the UK that RAFA has refused to sign another contract and will leave or be sacked very shortly.
So recent that in fact a book maker is refusing to take bets on when RAFA will leave.

The same reports from Spain are saying that there is nothing to worry about and Rafa will sign when the time is right.

Not knowing the reputation of the Spanish media like I hear about the UK press, I'd tend to believe the reports from Spain more, but it's still a worry.

For those not familiar with the very drawn out saga, here is my short take on things.

18 months ago, the new american owners,not used to the goings on of the EPL, ask Jurgen Klinsman if he would coach should Rafa not sign a new contract. This is found out and Rafa is furious but yankee owners back track saying they were just racking his brain.
American owners split and argue over finance and running of the club, leaving Rafa with 1 owner and the other with the CEO called Rick Parry.
Now before I continue, I must add that Liverpool doesn't have a Director Of football like some clubs, neither does the Manager have control of transfer affairs, meaning that Rafa gives a list of players he wants to Rick Parry and he barters on the clubs behalf.
THIS HAS BEEN A PROBLEM SINCE RICK PARRY WAS APPOINTED
For at least 6-7 years, supporters, insiders, admin and managers have been screaming at the slow pace and many potentially good players LFC have missed out on because of this person.

This is the 1st reason Rafa refused to sign a contract, because he wants total control over player bidding, within a budget given by the club.
Totally reasonable I reckon.
The yanks even called a few clubs owners to see what powers their managers have and it was confirmed that all rafa wants is the same as the others.

So the contract was re-drawn for a 2nd and 3rd time bowing to Rafa's demands that he take total control over transfers, but now he has refused again !

This time Rafa ( apparently) has refused saying he can't work under the current ownership.
This being the battle between 1 owner who backs rafa and the other who wanted Klinsman and has Parry as an Ally.

Rafa knows he has the backing of the fans and 1 owner, he knows the owners need to sell shortly because of crippling debts.
Is he bluffing? Is the press wrong ? Are the spanish press more correct in saying there is nothing to worry about?
Is this post too long? Can I remember what the f**k I posted this for?

[JK]

Reckon you're about spot on right mate ... Only other thing I'll add is that the Yanks, as part of their sales pitch, promised an initial war cabinet of transfer funds, with greater $$ availble for future transfer funding, and whilst they contributed a bit to the Torres signing they've given virtually no other assistance (even the Torres signing could be argued was afforded by the sale of players).

[devilsadvocate]

Rumours are rife in the UK that RAFA has refused to sign another contract and will leave or be sacked very shortly.
So recent that in fact a book maker is refusing to take bets on when RAFA will leave.

The same reports from Spain are saying that there is nothing to worry about and Rafa will sign when the time is right.

Not knowing the reputation of the Spanish media like I hear about the UK press, I'd tend to believe the reports from Spain more, but it's still a worry.

The UK press is tosh, but always take note of what the bookies are doing. Not always 100% correct, but better than the 1% strike rate of the press.

[smithy]

Well that performance against "Boro was just pathetic, worse than pathetic.
That is the worst I have seen Liverpool play in years.
When I saw the boro team I thought it was going to be a canter and after dominating the 1st 15 minutes I thought it was only a matter of time before we scored.
An unlucky own goal to Alonso didnt help but we still should've been good enough to score a few against that opposition.
Title race definitely over for the reds now and on this mornings showing they would'nt bloody deserve it anyway.
Only good news is that Parry is leaving at the end of the season.