WELCOME TO LIVERPOOL FC.... MARTIN SKRTEL!

This is Martin Skrtel. Our new player. Hope he can help us at the back.

The Reds have agreed a fee of £6.5million for the Slovakian, which would make him the most expensive defender in their history.
Rafael Benitez has been tracking the stopper for three years and sent representatives to watch him play for Slovakia against Czech Republic in a Euro 2008 qualifier and for Zenit against Everton in the UEFA Cup.
And after impressing in those two games, Skrtel is now anxious for the move to be completed and admits to being nervous about the prospect of joining one of Europe's top sides.
"The last two weeks I have been in constant contact with my agent Karol Csonto," he told Plus.
"I hope everything will turn out well in the end, the dream will come true, and I will become a player for a famous club.
"It is most important that everything works out well, and I cannot wait to put pen to paper.
"I have realised that in all likelihood a new era of my life is beginning.
"I struggled to get any sleep on Saturday night, and I normally have no problems sleeping.
"I have been pondering what will be waiting for me there and how I will get used to the conditions."

headache.... we score 2 goals... but one of it to our own net...!!!!

Need me to say more? I think most of us must be suprised or the very least, getting tired of this absurd show from the team. What is happening now? Four straight games and we can't get a win?
How come a team as lowly and problematic as Luton (under administrator) could muster such a fight against a well-paid LFC players.

Luton had fire in their belly, passion in their hearts and pride in their shirt as they went so close to claiming one of the biggest scalps in the land. Liverpool, a club with money to burn, were scorched by a team who have been paid two weeks’ wages out of the last nine.

Liverpool were nowhere near Luton’s level and produced an indifferent display that was off the pace, off the boil . . . basically, just off.

But for the Sky TV fee, Luton would have gone out of business a week or so ago. And the administrator will now be rubbing his hands in delight at the estimated £500,000 the replay will give Luton.

I am tired. But will not lost hope, ever. As a loyal fan, I will stay faithfull to LFC. I hope everyone of you, too.

The ballads of Luton... WOW!!!... they are in a lot of shit, really!

'The problem was we couldn't afford the £500 Luton's Kevin Blackwell tells Daniel Taylor why visit of Liverpool could dig the club out of a big hole

Saturday January 5, 2008 The Guardian

Kevin Blackwell is still in his slippers when he comes to his front door. He has been suffering from a heavy cough and, with respect, looks bloody awful. It is the third time, he explains, that he has had a bug in the last nine months and, as he slumps into a chair and puffs out his cheeks, it is tempting to wonder whether it might be stress-related. There is no football club in the country where the manager is not under strain, but Luton Town? This is a club that should come with a government health warning.
Tomorrow Blackwell will be out of his sick bed as Luton take on Liverpool in the FA Cup, a tie that will earn the League One club around £500,000, which, to put it another way, at least means the players will be paid for another month. The FA Cup is supposed to be about glamour and romance but, at Kenilworth Road, there are men in suits (administrators) who, without exaggeration, would rather the club did not pull off any giant- killing exploits if they can get a draw and a money-spinning replay at Anfield.
For Blackwell, it has been another difficult experience following his spell in charge of a financially shipwrecked Leeds United, where the boardroom buffoonery was so extreme he likens the Peter Ridsdale regime to a scene from Blackadder. "You can see Baldrick," he says, slipping into character. "We've lost £40m but, aha, I've got a cunning plan, let's buy another £40m and put it in the hole. Don't worry if there's a new hole over there because here's another cunning plan: we'll get another £40m. That's what it was like."
Luton, his home-town club, also appear to have operated by the theory of chaos, culminating in "Black November" when the Football Association announced 55 disciplinary charges concerning payments to agents, two directors resigned from the board and, most damagingly for Blackwell, the club fell into administration.
"I had 15 minutes to get hold of all the players before it was announced," he explains. "I told them there was nothing we could do about it, but that's not what they wanted to hear. A lot of these lads aren't on the money that people assume. I've got lads on £7,000 a week but others on £175 or £400. They weren't paid in November and, overall, in the last nine weeks they've had 2½ weeks' wages - under 30%. These lads have got mortgages and bills and it doesn't take a genius to work out they're going to be under a lot of pressure at home. One or two of their wives were crying, and understandably so. It's unnerving for everyone."
The current debt is not clear, but Luton's financial position can be accurately described as dire given the story Blackwell tells about the suppliers of their match balls ringing the club after one game. "We hadn't paid for the balls," he says, "and the firm who supplied them wanted them back."
Another story is of the club appealing against one of their three red cards from a 1-1 draw at Bristol Rovers on Boxing Day. "The problem was we couldn't afford the £500 fee," says Blackwell. "We chipped in together because we thought it was important. But the FA upheld the ban and added another game because, in their words, it was frivolous and we were wasting their time. That was another £500 gone."
Forgive Luton, then, if their priority against Liverpool is about finance rather than the sense of occasion, especially at a time when Blackwell's predecessor, Mike Newell, is suing for wrongful dismissal and could feasibly win a six-figure sum. "It could be seen as one of the bigger games in the club's history because without the half a million quid we would be in serious, serious trouble," says Blackwell.
"It gives us time to bring in a buyer. But administration has come at a bad time for us: in the middle of a season, coming up to the transfer window. We haven't got a buyer in place and we've somehow got to raise enough money to get us through to the end of the season. Which means selling players. We've already had two concrete offers and, in our position, we can't stop our players talking to the other clubs. We hope they don't go, but we can't even guarantee them their wages."
He says he would never have joined the club if he "had known what it was going to be like" and is appalled by what he perceives as a chronic lack of help from the authorities. For starters, he says the Football League has ordered Luton to cut the squad, originally to 20 players and then 16. "Pathetic" is the word Blackwell uses. His loan players have had to return to their clubs and the administrators have calculated they can save £5,000 by stopping overnight stays before away games. "We went to Port Vale last Saturday and didn't get there until half two because of a smash on the motorway."
Blackwell, it is important to note, agrees with the 10-point deduction the Football League automatically imposes when a club goes into administration, but the 49-year-old also has a dark theory. "Luton have been in administration three times in nine years," he explains. "In other words, we've caused the authorities more problems than any other club. And from that perspective we're not arguing. But you have to question whether the football authorities are actually quite happy to see football shrink.
"Natural wastage, you could say - let some clubs go to the wall and reduce the league. I'm being deadly serious here. Do these people genuinely want to keep the league intact? If you're ill, you get medicine. But are we getting any medicine? Not a bit. They don't give a damn whether or not we're in the league."
The problems are comparable with those Blackwell experienced at Leeds, where the club were £119m in debt at one stage and he can remember having "four different chairmen in one month". Elland Road was a nest of vipers and it was probably a miracle he lasted as long as he did given that the chairman Ken Bates, with his famous tact, once declared that ex-goalkeepers usually made bad managers.
Blackwell actually did a pretty good job at Leeds, taking them to the Championship play-off final while working against a constant backdrop of uncertainty. "From my first game, there were other managers sitting in the directors' box. Vultures. Batesy, to be fair to him, told me, 'I've had loads of people ringing me for your job.' People thought I would fail but we got Leeds within 90 minutes of the Premier League in a season when we were favourites to be relegated."
Blackwell is a popular member of the managerial set but, as can happen when Bates is involved, things ended on bad terms. Lawyers have been involved and Bates has seldom missed an opportunity to snipe at his former employee. "I have to be careful what I say because Bates will sue me," advises Blackwell. "But it says it all that when I went back to Leeds with Luton I got a standing ovation from 30,000 fans. And when I joined Luton I got 2,500 emails and messages of good luck from Leeds fans. I know the job I did at Leeds and I also know that, without a 10-point deduction, Luton would be in with a great shout of the play-offs. Nothing more needs to be said."

Wayne Bridge offered escape route to Anfield in £6m switch

Matt Hughes

Wayne Bridge’s unhappy 3½year spell at Chelsea could end with a £6 million move to Liverpool, one of their main rivals for the Barclays Premier League title.
The left back, 27, whose appearances at Stamford Bridge have been limited since the arrival of Ashley Cole from Arsenal, has already turned down the chance to switch to three top-flight rivals, but he may view the chance of resurrecting his career at Anfield more positively. He is one of the leading targets for Rafael BenÍtez, the Liverpool manager, after a failed attempt to sign Gabriel Heinze, the former Manchester United defender.
Bridge’s prospects at Chelsea dipped almost as soon as the transfer window opened on Tuesday, when the club lined up a deal for Branislav Ivanovic, of Lokomotiv Moscow. The Serbia defender is expected to complete a £10 million move in the next few days.
Chelsea have agreed a fee with Lokomotiv but need to finalise the terms of a four-year contract with Ivanovic, who has also attracted interest from Manchester United and Juventus. The 23-year-old can operate anywhere along the back four, but despite playing regularly on the right claims to be most comfortable at left back.
Ivanovic is valued for his versatility and is likely to make his initial impact at centre back, where Chelsea have seemed vulnerable since John Terry was ruled out for several months with a fractured foot. Although relatively young, Ivanovic is not inexperienced, with nine full caps and the kudos that followed from being named in the team of the tournament at last year’s European Under21 Championship, where Serbia reached the final.
Roman Abramovich’s willingness to offer such significant backing to Avram Grant so early in the transfer window in contrast to his refusal to buy a single player for José Mourinho 12 months ago indicates his faith in his first-team coach and his determination to keep Chelsea in the title race.
Grant is likely to make several more new signings before the end of the month, with Nicolas Anelka expected to complete a £10 million move from Bolton Wanderers next week, and Ivanovic could also be reunited with his Lokomotiv teammate, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, a versatile attacking midfield player with 19 caps for Russia.
Grant also wants to keep Bridge at the club but may not be able to do so, with Liverpool ready to offer him an attractive alternative and prepared to pay £6 million despite the internal wrangling over their transfer budget.
Bridge was badly affected by Chelsea’s controversial signing of Cole 18 months ago and will not take kindly to the impending signing of another rival. He was already disillusioned at what he perceived as the preferential treatment afforded Cole, with the former Arsenal defender generally selected for Chelsea’s most important matches.
Bridge rejected overtures from Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Fulham before signing a new contract at Chelsea last season, but he would view an approach from Liverpool quite differently.
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utusanLFC :
Bridge is a second-rate player - especially evident in his miserable performances for England - so I can't see what Liverpool would see in him.. asuming this rumour has any truth to it. First priority for Liverpool should be securing Macherano. And secondly Liverpool need a new Centre Half, to replace the aging and slowing down if still impressive in the air Hyppia.

Cheque out the stats on Rafa

STEVEN HOWARD - Chief sports writer (THE SUN)
Published: 04 Jan 2008

THE Rafa Benitez fan club, an increasingly diminishing band of brothers, maintain the Liverpool boss requires more time and money.
Well, he has had quite enough of both. On the financial side, Benitez has now overtaken the £125million spent by Gerard Houllier.
The result? Liverpool are six points worse off than they were at the same stage the season before last.
As for time, he has now been in the job for three and a half seasons.
In that same spell, Arsene Wenger has built a new side that leads Liverpool by 12 points in the Premier League.
And he’s done it for peanuts. The Arsenal team that started the 2-0 win over West Ham on Tuesday cost around the £21.5m that Benitez forked out for striker Fernando Torres.
In the same spell, Alex Ferguson has created another championship-winning team for no more than Benitez has squandered. And yet the Liverpool boss says he needs even more dosh.
During his famous fall-out with American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, Benitez claimed they didn’t understand the transfer market. You now have to ask whether the Spaniard does.
Apart from Torres, his attempts at finding goalscorers have been, if anything, comical.
It all started with the calamitous buy of Fernando Morientes, a player who never settled before returning to Spain for £3.3m less than he cost.
Craig Bellamy came and went, while £9m Dirk Kuyt has managed 11 goals in his last 40 games — and Andrei Voronin one in 16.
When Peter Crouch proved he COULD score, Benitez decided he wasn’t good enough. And what of the other signings?
What ever happened to Luis Garcia, Mark Gonzalez, Bolo Zenden, Gabriel Paletta, Jan Kromkamp, Josemi, Antonio Nunez, Mauricio Pellegrino etc, etc? Yes, there have been successes like Jose Reina, Danny Agger and Xabi Alonso, while Jermaine Pennant and Mo Sissoko have had their moments.
But too many have been purchased on what appears to be little more than the hope they will fit in somewhere.
Then, of course, there is the famous rotation policy which does nothing for player confidence. Now it’s happening with Ryan Babel and Yossi Benayoun. And Harry Kewell still gets in the team!
Meanwhile, Liverpool lag further behind Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea.
The difference is these clubs still win when they are playing badly — Liverpool can’t even do that when they play well.
Twelve points adrift and Benitez maintains they are in the title race. Same old words, same old tactics, same old results.
And yet the fan club still say: “Give him a chance, he inherited rubbish, Chelsea and United spend more, it’s a long building process, he’s won the big cups...” The record is wearing a little thin.

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utusanLFC : I deliberately included Howard's photo so you know who is the writer of this rubbish article who knows more than only to condemn us. Evidently, those venom was intended only to LFC and Howard never ever wrote such theme towards any of the London's club nor Man.U - the most favourite club in the world. What to do? We're in LFC will just have to let the players speak themselves on the pitch.... (if I put it right...)
As for now.... so be it.

GERRARD OUT OF HATTERS CLASH

Team Talk 04 January 2008

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard has been ruled out of Sunday's FA Cup tie at Luton after picking up a calf injury against Wigan in midweek.
Gerrard has not recovered from the knock and will not be in the party that travels to Kenilworth Road for the third round tie.

Rafael Benitez has also been hit by injuries to defenders Alvaro Arbeloa (calf) and Fabio Aurelio (hamstring). It means that youngsters Jack Hobbs and Lucas are expected to be involved, while Benitez will wait for medical reports on injured defenders Sami Hyypia and Daniel Agger before finalising his squad.

Liverpool (from): Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Agger, Riise, Hobbs, Sissoko, Mascherano, Alonso, Kewell, Babel, Lucas, Kuyt, Crouch, Voronin, Torres, Benayoun, Pennant, Itandje.

Back Rafa.. or the Kop wilderness years could stretch on to eternity

Brian Reade 05/01/2008 (Daily Mirror)

The most depressing sound coming out of Anfield this week was not the boos from the stands or the desperate words from Rafa Benitez about the title still being winnable.
It was the eerie silence from the men who run the club. A silence which continues to deafen.
When the new owners handed David Moores £88million last February, they also tossed the fans some bold pledges: "This club is not far from being the best in the world. That's what we want. We need to look at all the resources we possibly can, to compete with Manchester and Chelsea", said George Gillett. And many Kopites believed that paradise was about to be regained.
A year on, those fans are still in purgatory, completely in the dark as to the thoughts going through the heads of the club's selfstyled "custodians".
There have been soundbites and flattery but little else. The new stadium plans, which were unveiled in July, have been ripped up on cost grounds. There are stories that the debt incurred in the takeover will have to be piled on to the club, Glazer-style.
Despite reaching two European Cup Finals in three years, Benitez is frozen out due to an ill-judged outburst, and is unsure how much, if any, cash he has for the January transfer window.
One of the few world-class players, Javier Mascherano, is left in limbo, with nobody prepared to say if the club will pay the going rate for him despite his desperation to stay. Every draw (not defeat) sparks speculation about Benitez's future, fuelled by informed sources saying the owners want him out before next season.
Well Texans like plain speaking, so here's some. If taking over Liverpool now looks like an expensive error, own up and sell. If you don't want Benitez, sack him instead of waiting for him to sack himself. If you believe in the Spaniard, then honour your pledge to the fans and give him licence to compete at the top end of the January transfer window.
Despite some terrible home form and bucketloads of hysteria, Liverpool aren't that far behind Manchester United. But there is a crucial factor holding them back. Alex Ferguson has superior quality all over his squad, meaning when he rotates (which he does as much as Benitez) he gets away with it.
That's because he has been allowed to compete for a decade with the Real Madrids, Barcelonas and the Chelseas.
From the £30m cheques written for Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney, to the £18m spent on Michael Carrick and the £60m-plus he's just spent on Nani, Anderson and Owen Hargreaves. Benitez has competed with the big boys once. And bought Fernando Torres.
Critics mock his transfer dealings, and there's been the odd howler, but last January, with little money, he brought in Alvaro Arbeloa and Mascherano. Runaway successes both.
If he was allowed to sell Peter Crouch, Momo Sissoko and Scott Carson this month, he could show a £15m profit from his own dealings.
Under Gillett and Tom Hicks (inset) he's had one transfer window, spent a net £24m on Torres and two outstanding prospects - Ryan Babel and Lucas Leiva.
So why don't the American businessmen do what they do best. Disregard personal differences, look at the hard facts and realise Benitez deserves more, not less, freedom to buy.
Starve him of funds, force him into a corner, and he will leave for a top European club with genuine ambition, along with most of the class talent he has brought to Anfield.
Then those pledges of a year ago will be truly tested as they give another manager the chance to start again, with a "five-year plan" and little financial muscle.
Down that road lies only one certainty. Liverpool will undoubtedly emulate Manchester United.
By going for 26 years without winning the league. Or even Chelsea, by going 40.

hmmm.... lets LOOT LUTON BY THE TON !

Luton boss Kevin Blackwell has no fresh injury worries for the visit of Liverpool.
The Hatters have Chris Coyne back from suspension but Jaroslaw Fojut has returned to Bolton following the end of his loan spell at the club.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has been ruled out with a calf injury sustained in the draw with Wigan.
Boss Rafael Benitez has also been hit by injuries to defenders Alvaro Arbeloa (calf) and Fabio Aurelio (hamstring).
Liverpool (from): Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Agger, Riise, Hobbs, Sissoko, Mascherano, Alonso, Kewell, Babel, Lucas, Kuyt, Crouch, Voronin, Torres, Benayoun, Pennant, Itandje.

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BIG-MATCH FACTS
This is a repeat of one of the most memorable and exciting third round ties of recent years, which led eventually to Liverpool winning the trophy. On 7 January 2006, the Merseysiders beat Mike Newell's Luton 5-3 in front of live Match of the Day cameras at Kenilworth Road. Three goals in 11 second half minutes rescued Liverpool, who had gone 3-1 down. One of their five was curled into an empty net by Xabi Alonso from fully 60 yards.
Liverpool may be out of the top four of the Premier League at present, but Luton - deducted 10 points this season for going into financial administration - are fighting against relegation from League One.

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The League ladder
Liverpool are 60 places higher than Luton in the league standings.
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LUTON TOWN
Current form
Undefeated in four (three wins, one draw); won their last four at home and not lost in six at Kenilworth Road since Everton knocked them out of the Carling Cup, with a 0-1 fourth round victory on 31 October.
Recent FA Cup performance
Appeared in the fourth round twice in 12 seasons; 2004 and last season.
FA Cup fact
Reached Wembley in their only FA Cup final in 1959, when they lost 2-1 to fellow top level Nottingham Forest. The Midlanders held on, despite being reduced to 10 men after half an hour, when Roy Dwight broke a leg.
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LIVERPOOL
Current form
Undefeated in four; drawn the last two.
Recent FA Cup performance
Won the cup once in six years, but their triumph in 2006, was followed by a third round exit to Arsenal last season.
The Manager
Liverpool's victory on penalties over West Ham two years ago won for Rafa Benitez the only domestic Cup of his managerial career.
FA Cup fact
Mark Lawrenson was the only English link in Liverpool's FA Cup winning team of 1986. Ten of the 11 players were full internationals and none of them represented England. Although he played for the Republic of Ireland, Lawrenson was born in Preston. Technically the side that beat Everton 3-1, 22 years ago, is considered to be the first non-English team to win the cup.
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HEAD to HEAD
All competitions
Luton's only victory in their last eight meetings with Liverpool was a 3-1 top-flight triumph on 23 February 1991 at Kenilworth Road.
FA Cup
The Hatters have been drawn with Liverpool four times previously in the competition, and have only knocked them out once; it took three games to complete the task with a 3-0 victory in the third round on 28 January 1987 with goals from Brian Stein, Mick Harford (penalty) and Mike Newell.

Let's be real...

May be we were too optimistic. Too confidence. Or too much anticipation. Anxiety to utmost that we surely feel the agony everytime our team failed to win. Such was the notion that nowadays a draw is not considered a good result but likened to an almost murder. Last night game was one of it. More so when it involved a team that is facing relegation and we're supposed to be the superior team, supposed to win with a huge margin. But it was not gonna be so.

It is not because we feel down due to the fact that we in Malaysia had to wake up at 4am to watch the game and by 5am, the score still 0-0. And another 50 minutes more... we saw 1-1 on the screen. It's lousy. Its true. Its bad. Its sad. And mad.

12 points off the leaders - Arse-nal and Manure..., is a no way to win the premiership. We might accept the fact. We failed to win the games deemed to be easy for us. Reading taught us how to read the game more and Wigan surely wag its tail to our face!

Am I talking only about the doom and gloom of our team? May be. May be not. To be a loyal supporter, everybody must have the believe that LFC or any team for that matter, would raise itself and be counted, in particular come this April. Is January too early to bid farewell to the championship?

On the other hand, lets be real. The premiership is gone. Lets focus on the 3 cups left in our portfolio. Lets focus on Inter Milan. With our current form, many people would doubt if we can ever topple Luton next Sunday, what more to say about Inter Milan. But form can be ratify. The spirit can be regain. But to us, fellow fans... the agony now we're feeling is LOUSY. Brutally lousy.

Lets hope Luton won't be able to equalise this Sunday. hmmm....

+ utusanLFC

LFC vs WIGAN 3 Jan 2008 3am

simply said... we should win this game. And win it conviencingly....