wacko

They did, largely by giving way Their purpose is to prevent massive crushes by creating smaller ones.

I love that the Liverpool Echo writes S*n. I hope that him and Ingham don't wake up the next time they go to sleep. That pair of fucks deserve to see it coming. Perhaps we can get that Finnish fella to put them in his hydraulic press. See how they like it.

German police wear all the riot gear, but they're usually mint.

Found this old pic a RAWK (?) user made back in the day. Thought you might appreciate it. http://i.imgur.com/G24kTYE.jpg

About bloody time. Glad the families finally got some sort of justice. Let's hope prosecutions follow.

I said Carra didn't think were in the best interests of the club. Big difference between reality and some of the things Carra thinks. As much as I love Carra and Gerrard, it isn't for their insight and brainpower.

That's not what he said. Carra isn't an egomaniac like Gerrard. The criticisms he aimed at Rafa were based on things Rafa did that Carra didn't think were in the best interests of the club, like publicly picking a fight with the owners.

Right this way, sir. Don't mind Parky. He's the village idiot. Not to be confused with Village Idiot.

Surely, Franco would be more appropriate.

Only since he's been managing NUFC, like…

That was my take, too. Rafa showed his quality in his substitutions. He read our play and reacted perfectly, which is kinda his trademark, although I may be Istanbulising (I love you Didi and Rafa!)

I don't know about you, but I've had a few shit bosses over the years. It's really hard to work your balls off when you know it's pointless because the boss doesn't know what he/she is doing and will manage to turn it all to shit, regardless.

Hence my usage of the word "relatively".

Exactly. He's a terrible fit for sides full of trophy players. The polar opposite of Del Bosque. I have no doubt that Rafa will win trophies for NUFC if he sticks around. People always loved to beat us over the head with his "poor" league performance, ignoring the fact that he was concentrating all his resources on the CL (and we were the top-ranked side in Europe—and highly-feared abroad—for a few years). If you don't mind sucking up a relatively mediocre league finish in return for a very strong push for a cup, he's absolutely your man.

I'll tell you one thing about Rafa's time at Liverpool. I was never worried that the opposition would score when they had the ball. Of course, they did. Many times. But he had our defence working so fucking well that I always thought we'd mop up. The fact that we could be so solid at the back while playing a really high defensive line with notable slowcoaches Carra and Hyypia in central defence speaks volumes for the quality of Rafa's system. The pundits loved to rip into his zonal marking, but that's only because they had neither a player to blame for a mistake (as in man-marking) nor the wit to comprehend zonal marking.

Not sure how much of a factor Paco's leaving was, but it was definitely something the players complained about. But as noted, they were fairly special times, with Chelski and ManU hardly dropping any points.

He doesn't really care about the money. A piddling transfer kitty will piss him off far more than a piddling salary. I've no idea how he'd feel about a season in the Championship, but I reckon that if he does stay, it's almost certain that Ashley will do something stupid at some point that will push Rafa out the door. Rafa doesn't suffer fools, and Ashley has a fairly strong track record in that department…

Ronaldo's a player that needs cuddles from a manager, and he's a "free spirit". Not a Rafa player at all. Gerrard was the same, which is why he didn't get along particularly well with Rafa. (Remember the soft bastard putting in a transfer request after Istanbul because he didn't feel valued enough?) Don't get me wrong: Rafa's not perfect. We lost/drew a lot of games we could have won by staying too controlled for too long in the game: Rafa didn't like to let go of the reins till the last few minutes. He also had a fetish for the squad and rotation over the first team, often preferring to buy two middling squad players instead of one first-rate first-team player. In those crazy days, when Chelsea and Man Utd hardly dropped a point all season, Rafa's rotation meant we were out of the race before the team could get into its groove (about November). That said, he sacked off the early-season rotation in his last season or two, and I haven't followed him closely since he left LFC. He might have eliminated his weaknesses.

Rafa doesn't give a fuck about "man management". There is the plan. The tactics. The endless drills. Either a player is mature and professional enough to do his job, or he'll be replaced. He'll also be out if he's too dumb to follow Rafa's instructions. At Melwood, he'd spend hours holding the ball in his hands and walking about the pitch, while the players had to move into the appropriate position relative to the ball. Absolute discipline. And he doesn't fuck about. He didn't hesitate to replace Dudek with Reina, even after the Dude's legendary performance in Istanbul, and Riise was gone after his batshit header against Chelsea. Dry as fuck is Rafa, but Super Effective™. A lot of the players who've worked under him don't like him. But they all respect him. Carra once said that he'd never had a conversation with Rafa that wasn't about football.

Which fans were singing it? Our fans have been belting it out constantly since the Swansea game. I don't think Liverpool fans would join in while they have Klopp on the touchline, but if they felt it was appropriate then that's fine by me. No, I didn't think we would (well, maybe once before kick-off), but it is so fucking catchy. What words do youse lot sing? You don't have Xabi Alonso, Garcia and Nunez.

Which fans were singing it?

When Sturridge was hacked down/fell over?

Well played by Benitez. Was that our lot singing the Rafa song, or did your lot pinch it?