Liverpool

Arsène Wenger, Gareth Bale and the cheating legacy of Don Revie’s Leeds

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(Image: Timothy Boyd)


When Salut! Sunderland hammers on about cheating in football, and declares that any diving and feigning of injury is beyond the pale and not just when committed by opponents, the world is silent. When Arsène Wenger says something similar, everyone sits up and pays attention.

That is naturally as it should be. Not only is Wenger a top voice in football, deserving of a serious hearing when he makes a serious point; his call, reported with big headlines today, for an end to the conning of referees also sounds a little like a Damascene conversion.

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Soapbox: on beating – again – a ‘distinctly average’ Liverpool

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Sixer by Jake (the Soapbox is hidden)

No beachball to win us the game. No long-distance McCallister dive to claim them a draw. Just a solid, hard-working but full deserved victory for the better side.

This was Michael Goulding at the Blackcats list: “I have always liked Liverpool and used to think Dalglish was the dog’s bollocks. I lost respect during the Suarez affair (as has half the country, by the sound of things) and his buying record and current form are akin to previously sacked Liverpool managers like Souness, Roy Evans, etc. Roy Hodgson got sacked without losing three league games in a
row (which Dalglish has just done). My good Liverpool-supporting mate went to Wembley the other week and says it was just papering over the cracks.”

And this is Pete Sixsmith with a magisterial assessment of the game, the BBC’s deranged priorities and the current state of two great clubs …

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Sixer’s Sevens: Sunderland 1 Liverpool 0. The magic endures

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Here Pete Sixsmith captures the glory and shame, hope and despair, excitement and ennui of the Sunderland matchday experience. When, rarely, Pete is absent or delayed, a supersub does it for him and the seven-word verdict is preceded by an asterisk. Pete’s full analysis of the game will usually appear within a day or two.

This was a terrific win for Martin O’Neill’s resurgent team; a goal from Nicklas Bendtner on an eventful afternoon for him – he was later stretchered off and we wish him well – sealed it. At half-time, Monsieur Salut – adrift from the action in France – heard from the Stadium of Light (Pete) that there was not much going on and from Spain (Jake) that we were doing well. Then came the second half, the goal and – said Gary Bennett when M Salut finally located some live commentary – fully deserved victory.

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Liverpool Who are You?: (2) ‘oh dear Jordan (and oh dearer Carroll)’

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Jake poses the question


Well, one “Who are You?” candidate, Phil, had a “week from hell” and looked unlikely to deliver. No sooner had I appealed for emergency supersubs – and received two much appreciated offers – than Phil surfaced with renewed promises. It was too late. Maybe we will return to him for the cup semis or final! Meanwhile, after Keith Conneely’s excellent contribution yesterday, my Abu Dhabi colleague Michael Barnard* has provided another fascinating set of answers ahead of Sunderland v Liverpool tomorrow. He expects a draw, but his thoughts on Carroll (“oh Carroll, I was such a fool” could be Kenny’s new take on the old Sedaka hit) and Henderson are especially illuminating …

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The Liverpool Who are You?: (1) ‘the debt we owe Sunderland supporters’

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Jake poses the question

Murphy’s Law decrees that whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Sod’s Law is subtly different; bad fortune can be “tailored to the individual”, good may come about despite anything the individual does. In seeking an emergency substitute for the Liverpool “Who are You?”, when circumstances left me facing an empty page, I approached two new targets with tales of Sod’s Law. Luckily, Murphy did not intervene and Keith Conneely*, the second of two “Yes” responses, had already completed the Salut! Sunderland questionnaire (No 2 can be found at this link)…

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Bad El-Abd: Brighton defender makes a victim of Liverpool’s Andy Carroll

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There is plenty right with football. The thrill of seeing your team reach the FA Cup 6th round, or producing matchwinning finishes two years running against the likes of Manchester City, would be enough on their own to prove the point. Billy Sharp’s t-shirt tribute to his baby son, who died aged just two days, was another example (as was the referee Darren Deadman’s decision to keep card in pocket as Sharp celebrated a goal by lifting his shirt to show the message “That’s for you son”).

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