Yaay!

Yaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy!

Hillsborough Anniversary Semifinal

A day of mixed emotions. Hope the clouds aren't ominous..

Andy Hunter says it like it is

Liverpool and Everton managers under pressure to define their season | Andy Hunter | Football | The Guardian

Comolli gone!

Wearing fancy glasses didn't save him

Damien Comolli has stepped down as Director of Football with immediate effect, apparently by mutual consent. This followed from a meeting with owners John Henry and Tom Werner who are in London for the FA Cup semi final, and possibly as a direct consequence of the debacle at Newcastle when Kenny, Steve Clarke and Comolli were asked for written appraisals of our current mess. Nevertheless, it is still a surprise given the timing, yet not totally unexpected given the pragmatic way the business is run with the Americans. Thoughts of barn doors and horses cross our minds at this juncture.
I met Damien Comolli in Kuala Lumpur during Pool's Asia Tour and he seemed quite a polite and approachable sort of chap very much given to intense physical workouts possibly as a way of letting off steam. I remember asking for his autograph thinking this might be worth something (cerebrally of course) if he ever gets the boot. He has, though there doesn't seem to be much joy in that right now.
Damien was brought in as DoF in late 2010 following on from a previous stint at Spurs in a similar role. The appointment at that time was questionable, as Pool have never had a DoF, if memory serves rightly, and his time at Spurs wasn't that great either. He must have impressed someone, and Kenny stands by him, even to the point of sharing blame for his blunders at Anfield, but then, that's Kenny.
The subscript to this is that Peter Bruckner, head of Sports Medicine and Science at Anfield has also been relieved of his job. But then, I don't know him and have never asked for his autograph, so we'll leave it at that. Oh yes, according to John Henry, the job of DoF is open for an "excellent" candidate and the want to get a move on from here soonest possible, thus the departures.

1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/apr/12/the-fiver-football-email-damien-comolli?CMP=EMCFTBEML853
2. http://bleacherreport.com/tb/bg2kq?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=liverpool
3. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/9199540/Liverpool-Director-of-Football-Damien-Comolli-sacked-as-owners-react-to-failed-transfers-and-desperate-run-of-results.html

Liverpool recalling goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi from loan at Hull City | Football | guardian.co.uk

Liverpool's quest for a keeper that can stay the whole 90 minutes continues..

Liverpool recalling goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi from loan at Hull City | Football | guardian.co.uk

Brad Jones and … Liverpool's goalkeeper options for semi-final | Football | guardian.co.uk

Bring back Jerzey, I say!
Brad Jones and … Liverpool's goalkeeper options for semi-final | Football | guardian.co.uk

Dalglish's faith in Flanagan misplaced

Jon Flanagan, an academy product, seems to be on of the few players to have flourished under Dalglish's time. The most obvious thing about this young chappie is his maturity. Or, it seems to me, too much of it. From early days in the first team, what has struck me the most has been his common resort to professional fouls and playing "dirty". Since Liverpool's Right back crisis" (every crisis has to have a name now for ease of referral), the opportunity hs arisen for Flanagan to excel and really show his worth. But he has fallen back on this unpleasant aspect of his game far too much and too often. Following on from his trademark displays, things came to a head when a distinctly second choice side narrowly took the spoils against Blackburn. The real spark to the "goalkeeper crisis" had Flanagan written all over it. Despite continuously fouling Marcus Olssen, Dalglish persisted in keeping faith with Flanagan, that is until too late, his poor back pass to Doni led to that goalkeeper's dismissal for a foul on Junior Hoilett, thus precipitating the said crisis. Liverpool were lucky not have replacement Brad Jones sent off as well, for another professional foul on Yakubu, which may have deepened the problem. As Liverpool lumber on from one crisis to another this season, we may have cause to ponder the influence the youngster Flanagan has on the ultimate success Liverpool's season. As pointed out by Henry Winter in The Guardian, second choice (or third for that matter) goalkeepers and FA Cup semi finals do not have a good history together. And what of the remaining league games following that? We sincerely hope this is the last crisis this season.

Andy Carroll and Brad Jones rescue Liverpool against Blackburn Rovers after comedy of errors at Ewood Park - Telegraph

The Sound of Silence

Liverpool 1-1 Aston Villa | Premier League match report | Football | The Observer
Apparently, the new sound at Anfield is silence. It began with a minute's silence in commemoration of the fallen, very moving for its depth and feeling, yet the one that matters at the moment is the home team support. as put very aptly by Gareth Roberts in his passionate and colourful article (Wellredmag.co.uk 18 Dec 2011), Anfield has fallen silent. Most of the noise emanates from the away end, and there was lots of "load of rubbish" but I'm not sure from where, though this may be my denial breaking through.
Apart from that, there were the usual things now so commonly associated with the Red men; bad luck, shots at the woodwork, plenty of corners and attempts at goal. Sadly, the most important statistic still escapes us, though on the strength of the second half display, the emotion seems to have returned. Good to see Daniel Agger return, and Jordan Henderson swung some beautiful passes in between his usual missteps and ballooned balls. On the touchline things seemed pretty similar which isn't ver good. They now have the match away to Blackburn to put things into place prior to Everton at Wembley and usurp the Toffees season once again. Meantime, the Red supporters have to be supportive of the team as when they were winning. As witnessed first hand in the stands, nowadays, expletive-ridden quick criticism seems the norm in the red ranks, as in most of British society.

Kenny Dalglish defends methods despite Liverpool's sub-standard form | Football | The Guardian

"People are entitled to their opinions but the opinions that count are inside the club. We will get on with our work. The most important thing is to get some support. It is easy to support a team that is winning every week but when things are not going so well – that is when you need your supporters." So says Kenny, and it's quite true. Constructive criticism is fine, but needless and wanton comments just add to the despondency.

Kenny Dalglish defends methods despite Liverpool's sub-standard form | Football | The Guardian

Newcastle United 2 Liverpool 0: match report - Telegraph

Liverpool are in disarray all right. An abject performance with shades of indiscipline creeping through. Kenny's early season protection and pampering of his players is coming back to bite him. On the field frustrations may not be entirely related to the match itself, but rather a behind the scenes issues. Andy Carroll has conclusively proven what a bad buy he was. Kenny seems hapless and out of his depth. A sorry sight indeed.
Newcastle United 2 Liverpool 0: match report - Telegraph