Walk on, Kenny

(Image of the season: Brad Jones after the Carling Cup win. He lost a child earlier in the year. YNWA, Brad.)

Kenny Dalglish. What can we say? Legend. Great guy. But not the manager for this team right now. Sorry to say it, but I think John Henry got this right. And you won’t read it maybe, but Kenny even said that it was the best thing. He said that AFTER the meeting. So you need to consider that they apparently have the buy-in of the man who got fired. No, he wouldn’t go upstairs and I applaud that. If you don’t want that, don’t take it to save face. Take your medicine and move on. He did.

According to Brucie Grobelaar, we lost Kenny the first time because the board wouldn’t open the coffers for Alan Shearer. So Kenny left and won the Prem in Blackburn, of all places, with Alan Shearer. He also wanted Roy Keane back there at some point. Those two players would have been game changers. But look at him now. Carroll, Henderson, Downing and Adam. England just selected Carroll and Downing and Hendo is on the reserve team.

He lost me when he broke up what I considered to be the most dynamic scoring group I’ve seen since I started following right after Souness. Maxi, Miereles, Kuyt and Suarez. Those 4 together were murder on defenses. They passed and moved and SOMEone got a good look at goal–and it wasn’t always Suarez, but there did not appear to be any ego with it. They played together and their play (and goals) is really what got Kenny appointed manager, as he was only “interim” at the time.

What did he do? Sold Miereles. Benched Maxi and Kuyt and spent the year listening to people wonder why Suarez couldn’t score!!!! So he lost me there. And during the Bolton game, he lost me permanently. He won me back temporarily, but really, the damage was done.

Fenway Sports has cleaned house at Liverpool. It’s barren. Fresh start. That’s what you need. Hopefully, they keep the bootroom that Kenny brought back, after Souness removed it (turned it into the media area). Hopefully, they give Rafa a shot. He still lives in the Wirral! I was surprised to read that. And encouraged. My hunch is that they will make a show of talking to him but will opt for their own man, through and through. OH well. Simpre es possible…

Oh, Hale: the Last of Kuyt at Anfield (and Maxi)

Sad day today. And Kenny, while he gave Maxi a start on his way out in front of The Kop, didn’t start Dirk Kuyt! C’mon, Kenny. You have to give this guy 70 or 80 mins!

Listening to the game on sat radio, oddly enough, I was driving and clearly heard the Maxi Song. What a great song. We should have had many, many more opportunities to sing it this year. Kenny, you lost the scent. Last year, Kuyt, Miereles, Maxi and Suarez were awesome. In fact, they got you that job on permanent status from caretaker. And the first thing you did was bury them! Miereles? Out. Maxi? Bench: despite the best scoring-to-mins ratio on the team. Guess he was making the bought players look bad (that wasn’t hard). Kuyt? Also used less and less.

Anyway, Maxi and Dirk: Thanks for the memories. Thanks Dirk for the tireless running and trackbacks and great attitude and some really big, memorable goals. An unselfish player. A team player. He will be missed. But understand that he and Maxi SHOULD LEAVE! Leave. Please. Don’t stay where Kenny has clearly back-burnered you.

I hate to say it but I don’t want Kenny back. Love the guy, but he needs to vacate. I would take Rafa back in a heartbeat. Rafa? With that money that Kenny just blew? Rafa would have had some major players in for that cash. Not guys where you have to constantly be reminded that, oh, “…they’ll come good”. No, they would BE good. Right now. No waiting. How about that?

When did he lose me? The Bolton game. Then he won me back for a spell, but it’s clear. Clear.

Here is the latest scuttlebutt on KD and John Henry.

And remember. Maxi Rodriguez could start for Argentina, but he couldn’t get Henderson’s or Downing’s place in the side.

Watch this to cheer you up.

Come on you Red Men!

FA Cup Final. Today. Liverpool-Chelsea. Will Gerrard rise to the occasion as he frequently does? Will Maxi play? He owns Chelsea. Will Carroll play? Bells? It’s certainly Kuyt and Maxi’s last big day in Red, sadly. I wish it had gone better for Maxi but they don’t listen to me. The man scores. What can I say? Pull up a chair and enjoy the “British Superbowl”. Odd that it’s so early this year. It’s usually a week or two later. Let’s hope there are no bad calls and no Drogba flopping around (and Suarez). Enjoy the game.

How much the game matters

You see those empty seats in the Annie Road end?  That many people did not see Raheem Sterling’s first time in the first team.  I was down by the Annie Road end for Gerrard’s first mins in 1998.  Let’s hope. 

Made up for Brad Jones

Wonderful today. Didn’t think they’d get it after 0-1 down. If you don’t know, Brad Jones, Liverpool’s 3rd string keeper, lost his 6 yr old son to cancer this season. He would not have had a sniff of the FA Cup Semi Final except that in the last 2 games, both keepers ahead of him got red cards and bans.

To see him be the first congratulated by the team and have this day be all his was wonderful. YNWA, truly.

This was called the best photo of the LFC season and I have to agree. It is, hands down.

Holy Comollis

Click here to read it on This is Anfield

Liverpool, just 2 days from the FA Cup Semi vs crosstown rivals, Everton, have dusted Damien Comolli. The move is not shocking, but the timing is a bit of head-scratcher.

Comolli, for readers who don’t know (read: J, if he’s even read this far on a “sah-ker” post), was recommended to John Henry by Billy Beane. He had done some nice things at Spurs (Gareth Bale for one) and he was our “Moneyball” analyst. I hate the term “Moneyball”, because most don’t understand what it is. You mean, “looking for undervalued players in the player market”? That’s been going on since the beginning of time. So now it has a name.

Comollis had been, and will continue to be, the focus of intense fan debate. As in, “how much influence did he have”? Who bought Adam, Downing, Henderson and Carroll? Who bought Enrique and Suarez? The good buys. So the debate will rage on: was it Kenny? Or Comolli? Or Henry even?

I would point out something about the spending that most overlook. After the mistrust and bad feeling and dare-I-say, “anti-American” feeling, I feel Henry deliberately made sure to pump cash in to sway fan opinion, such was level of vitriol at the time. In other words, Henry calculated that he needed to buy his way out of some of the anti-American bad-feeling. So Liverpool fans need to realize that they can be, at times, part of the problem.

The firing sends a message that Henry will not sit idly by. He will act decisively. That’s good. Will Kenny be next? Is this the firing that buys Kenny more time? Can the bad stuff be dumped on the guy exiting and Kenny live to fight another season? If they win the FA Cup, can you fire the guy? It will get interesting. Big match on Sat. I have an idea what I think but don’t want to jinx them. I will say that I hope that Carra does not play but I am afraid he will. If he plays, and Everton scores, will he be central to giving up the goal? We’ll see. Love to see Maxi, Bells and Suarez play starting XI. Love to see Downing and Adam on the bench. Ditto Carroll. Behind, you may run him out there to help score on set pieces, but only as desperation. It’s going to be fun.

In 3 days, 6 guys will run 76 miles for 96

http://hillsborough-anfieldrun.co.uk/

Click here to read about the run

Great idea. Click the link. Donate. Follow them on that tweetering thing. It’s an impressive figure, for sure. I recall being impressed with the US Military’s White Sands Missile Range run for the WWII Bataan Death March. Full pack and heat, sure, but 76 miles? Let’s hope the Reds can win it if for nothing else, than just for these 6 Scousers. Good luck. We salute you from America. YNWA.

***

Just read an SI headline: “Jeter, Yankees, pick up first win”.

So now he’s ahead of the team? Oy. Gag. If he was on the Titanic, surely it would have read: “Jeter, 1500 others: lost”.

A couple of facts about Jeter you’ll never read. He has only ever played ONE season on a team that wasn’t the highest paid team in MLB. The one year? 1997, when the Yanks were a 1% behind Baltimore. In some years of his career, they outspent the 2nd spendingest team by 40%!

As Kolchak would say, “FACT!, if it weren’t for the Houston Astros looking to save $300,000 on a signing bonus, Jeter would have been an Astro for a few years, and then a purchased Yankee.”

Just saying.

Muggles, Grobelaar and Fenway.

Here’s an old tune by Louis Armstrong and the Hot Fives circa 1928 called
Muggles.

The Hot Fives never cease to amaze me. Stupendous. The name of the tune has nothing to do with the fictional books that were so popular recently. It is, I have read, an old term for the jazz cigarettes that came out of New Orleans.

***
Click here to listen to an amazing podcast from the NY Liverpool Supporters Club. They had Bruce Grobelaar in studio for at least an hour. Part 1 is Episode 64 and there will be another to follow. This pod is at least as good as the Jan Molby pod from last year. Great stuff from the club.

I loved hearing him talk about the 1979 Soccer Bowl at Giant’s Stadium. I was at that game! He didn’t play for some reason, but it was neat to think about. In those days, the Cosmos had just won the 1977 and 1978 Soccer Bowls and they made a new rule that put the final in the stadium of the team that had won it the prior year. So in 1979, the Cosmos were not in it and there we were a lot of Cosmos chants when the game bogged down. It was odd. But I was there and so was Brucie.

I remember the tour at Anfield and they showed you the dressing room and the hot and cold water pools. The tourguide said that in the history of Liverpool Football Club, only 2 players were known to have ever used the pure cold bath. I guessed one correctly, Brucie. The other was Souness.

Liverpool announces a 2nd firm date on the Summer tour: M&T Bank stadium in Baltimore vs Spurs! Spurs–a nice bonus. (Reports say that Vandervart is already hurt). July 25 at Fenway and July 28 at Baltimore. The other two cities are supposedly Toronto and NYC. I would think they would put the Reds in Toronto for the 3rd match as Balt and Boston have NY covered.

You lost to QPR? The hoops?

Liverpool were cruising 2-nill and then proceeded to cough up 3, count ‘em, THREE goals to lose 3-2. Even J is agog. Was this worse than the Bolton game? Well, at least we scored 2.

The consolation? Coates’ goal of the year after subbing for Martin Kelly. And also that 4th was not realistic so really, who gives a whoop? (I mean, besides J).

If we win the FA Cup, how bad a year have you had? I understand the Champs’ League, yea, I get that. But honestly, with our squad…with Cholly Adam et al, would be going into the Bernabau and the San Siro and doing anything? We can’t beat QPR up 2-0 on 77′! What good would the Champs’ League do? Remember Basel? And that was a better team.
***
Mrs. Pinetar loves the show “Restaurant Impossible”. It’s basically her “Gold Rush” show. And, I can watch it, unlike the prom dress show last night that was making my flesh crawl. Thankfully, she let me switch to the Military Channel and they had “Fatal H*tler” on again. I’ve only seen it 3 or 4 times so it was somewhat fresh.

Anyway, I have watched many episodes of Restaurant Impossible and I’ve learned a few things. What I’ve learned is that at a subpar restaurant, they are serving you frozen food that they are losing money on, and, the kitchen is filthy and no one has looked at the books to notice, “…hey, we’re losing 3 dollars ever time we serve X…”
***
With the Wilpon’s “winning” their little trial, Mets’ fans have absolutely NOTHING to look forward to for maybe a generation, maybe more. Let’s begin agitating for a National League expansion team in NY. Maybe pull a “Bill Shea” and threaten to start a 3rd circuit. Get Cuban on that. Put a group together. Pick some cities. Smell Bud sweat. Get your team. Worked in 1960, why not? Met fans: Vote with your dollars. Go to minor league. Go to Philly. Go to Baltimore. Go to Wash. Watch MLS. Watch Curling. You get the idea.

Great old photos

Here are some tremendous photos from all eras of Liverpool Football Club history. Well worth a look. I love the photos from not all that long ago that really look dated now. Look at the old dugouts at Anfield. That was the 1970′s only!

I like the Jan Molby one in front of the Liver Assurance building right down on the Mersey. What a beautiful building and symbol of a city. It’s next to the Cunard building and because of those steamship lines that connected the cities, New York and Liverpool have a lot in common. They could be sister cities in some ways. Molby is a Dane but he stayed on Merseyside after his playing days were done and raised his kids there. He came to the NY supporters club last year and did some dynamite pod casts and an appearance or two for us. Love Molby.