LIVERPOOL: BACK TO THE FUTURE

DID we take the Champions League for granted? I certainly did. Ironically I remember all too well the forgettable 1-0 home win over Hungarian side Debrecen in September 2009, how mundane and routine it all felt. Three points. Dirk Kuyt. Cheers. Two weeks later we were...
MARIO BALOTELLI: RISKY BUSINESS?

MARIO BALOTELLI: RISKY BUSINESS?

YOU should know that what you’re about to read isn’t going to unbiased. I love Mario Balotelli. Have done for years. He was born in Palermo where a large chunk of my family still reside. He played for Internazionale and A.C. Milan, the two teams that most of my...
LIVERPOOL: GOING FORWARD

LIVERPOOL: GOING FORWARD

WHAT an annoying buzz phrase it is. Having been a civil servant for a large part of my recent history, it has been haunting me, following me everywhere. Constantly being told what we are doing ‘going forward’. In the last year or so, I have noticed it...
LIVERPOOL: ALL YOU NEED IS RUSH

LIVERPOOL: ALL YOU NEED IS RUSH

It’s 26 years to the day since Ian Rush returned to Liverpool after his short spell at Juventus. NEIL SCOTT remembers it well. AS anyone with a cursory knowledge of the football landscape will tell you, the transfer window has its own unique lexicon.   “Sources...

ACCIDENTAL WITNESS

THIS weekend marks the return of the Football League, a full week before the Premier League’s big kick off. Something that has been an unsettling concept for me ever since it was introduced a fair few years back now. I mean, why can’t we all kick off the new season...
WHEN BERGER WAS KING

WHEN BERGER WAS KING

ON this day in 1996, Liverpool Football Club unveiled the signing of Patrik Berger from Borussia Dortmund. I was very excited. It was a time when Liverpool didn’t have many overseas players, and long before it was cool to sign people from Dortmund. When Berger...
LFC’S PRE-SEASON: THOUGHTS SO FAR

LFC’S PRE-SEASON: THOUGHTS SO FAR

AFTER a few late nights spent staring at my TV and tablet screens as Liverpool do their best to entertain the American masses, a few things have stood out in my mind. I thought I’d share some of my own pre-season thoughts with you: Seb Coates may deserve a stay of...
LIVERPOOL: THE PRE-SEASON DILEMMA

LIVERPOOL: THE PRE-SEASON DILEMMA

EVERY year, sometime around mid-July, it’s the same script, writes CRAIG RIMMER. The withdrawal symptoms induced by having not watched the Red men do their thing for two full months reach the point where a pre-season kick about with Preston North End is greeted...
GOODBYE SOUTHAMPTON, HELLO LIVERPOOL

GOODBYE SOUTHAMPTON, HELLO LIVERPOOL

WITH Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren joining the Reds this summer – and Southampton trousering £49m from the transfers in the last three months – I spoke to BEN STANFIELD, a born-and-bred Southampton lad, a Saints fan for over 25 years and a...
WORLD CUP 2014: MY SOUTH AMERICAN DREAM

WORLD CUP 2014: MY SOUTH AMERICAN DREAM

THROWAWAY remarks about future events that eventually come to pass. Well, threaten to come to pass. Odd things they are. You get a self-satisfied hum of contentment that you saw something before anyone else did, but usually for me it’s offset by a dull thud because I...