News, views and opinion on Liverpool FC
It all got a little too much for 5year old Shea as his exuberance in celebrating with his beloved Reds at Wembley for the Carling Cup Final, sadly resulted in him poking himself in the eye. It wasn’t enough to stop the celebrating though!
The video footage caught by BBC cameras at the game has turned the little lad into an Internet sensation thanks to the wonders of YouTube.
If you are running low on LFC Kit, need a replacement shirt or just want to add to the collection, then today is a great day to do it.
Alongside the Carling Cup Final Sports Direct are selling LFC Home and Away Shirts for just £4.99 for Adults and £3.99 for Juniors for TODAY ONLY WHILE STOCKS LAST!
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Wherever you are watching Liverpool take on Cardiff City today let us know about it by sending us a photo of your Carling Cup day!
Be it from Wembley, your local or the comfort of your own sofa send us your fan pics with Liverpool gear aplenty and we will add all the photos in to a gallery during the course of the day and post them out this evening!
You can send them to us via Twitter at @kop_that, by email or using our uploader below as you prefer.
Most of all wherever you are supporting the Reds, have a cracking day as the countdown is nearly over! In the meantime here are a couple that have arrived with us already!
From @LeanneMichelle7
From @Chris_G_Davies
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As Liverpool head down to Wembley at the weekend to hopefully return with an 8th League Cup title, you could create your own little bit of history with your name engraved via the new Wembley landmark; Wembley Way.
Wembley have identified some areas around the stadium where engraved stones will be installed in the ground around the National Stadium. Whilst some stones will be placed to mark the achievements of others in the game and famous events, such as Geoff Hurst’s contribution to the 1966 World Cup win, the opportunity exists for your own personal message to be included.
“Fans can choose a personal message to celebrate their greatest ever Wembley moment, show support for their club or country or celebrate an important occasion such as a birthday, anniversary, family memory or even ask for a loved one’s hand in marriage!”
The idea is aimed at gifts that range in price from £50 through to £495, for different sizes of stone. You also have the option to order a personal replica of your Wembley Way stone. Your certificate details an image of your stone as well as where it is located at the ground.
For further information on the Wembley Way stones go to the its dedicated page here: Wembley Way Stones
Images & Source: Wembley Stadium
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If you are a fan of some of the renowned Liverpool flags that have adorned grounds all over world for decades and tag lines that have become household slogans, then the guys over at LFC Flags & Banners could be a good place to visit to download these as digital images.
Ideal for desktop wallpapers, iphone backgrounds etc they are free to download from the site. In addition to this if you are a flag holder and don’t have a image of it, they will be happy to make it a digital reality!
You can also catch up with them on Twitter at @LFCFlags
An article from Max Bloggs. You can reach out to him on Twitter at @derRetter
Before continuing with this posting I’d like to explain my motivations for still covering the issue that just won’t die. I like most of other Liverpool fans am battle weary. I just want the Suarez-Evra issue to go away. But it hasn’t yet and it won’t anytime soon. As long as the media continue to misrepresent the facts, then I—and hopefully other bloggers—will continue to fill in the gaps.
On 13 February, I entered into a discussion with the chief football writer for a large national tabloid after I saw him inaccurately explaining the term “negroâ€. Seeing this as a blatant misrepresentation of fact, I questioned his journalistic integrity.
Referring to the term “negro†he asserted that the experts found “that it WAS perjorative (sic). And that didn’t accept assertion to [the] contrary.†He claimed that the experts’ conclusion backed Evra and not Suarez.
I don’t consider myself to be naïve—as I have seen what journalists are capable of—but I was honestly shocked at reading his tweets as it revealed one of two things: (1) either he was openly lying to defend his stance on the Suarez-Evra issue; (2) that inadvertently admitting that he had not clearly grasped the nature of the experts’ evidence in the 115-page FA report.
At this point I tweeted him paragraphs 190 and 194 of the FA report which clearly state that the experts concluded that if Suarez’ version of events were true, then his use of the term “negro†would not have been ‘offensive or offensive in racial terms.’
After a 10 minute pause in our Twitter activity (I’m assuming the reporter in question has now opened up the FA report) he refers me to paragraph 179, which clarifies that had Suarez said “porque tu eres negroâ€, that would have been offensive.
Now what surprised me here was that he again showed that he didn’t understand the nature of the experts’ evidence. He cited paragraph 179 with the belief that it somehow defended his assertion that the experts had backed Evra over Suarez.
But it didn’t.
I never suggested that the experts found against Evra. As has been well documented in the mainstream media, the experts also found that in Evra’s version of events (if true) the use of “negro†would have been offensive. My point was—and always has been—that the experts also agreed that in Suarez account (if true) the use of “negro†would not have been construed as racist.
He then dismisses these inconvenient truths, stating that “[w]e can all find reasons to back our positions.†I argued that therein lies the problem: the mainstream media have been defending their positions by selectively and inaccurately citing the 115-page FA report since its release.
I now find myself asking why our mainstream media even have “positions†that need to be defended.
I then drew the reporter’s attention to his previous quote that “negro†“WAS perjorative (sic). And that didn’t accept assertion to [the] contrary.†He accepted that he was wrong, having recognised that the experts’ conclusions that the use of the term as described by Suarez would not have been construed as racist.
However, he still rejected the idea that the experts “backed†Suarez. I don’t disagree with this point because the experts—at least not publicly—didn’t back either Suarez or Evra. They simply passed judgment on whether the term “negro†was offensive. In doing so they considered both Suarez’ and Evra’s version of events as if both accounts were true and made their judgments accordingly. It was the FA who backed Evra over Suarez, which is clear from paragraph 199 onwards.
Again, this point was accepted by the reporter in question.
Now the fact the a reporter has either been selectively or unknowingly misreporting the FA’s findings may not be anything new to those Liverpool fans who have read the report.
But these points have been the basis of many fans’ support of Luis Suarez. The idea that he can be found guilty without any video evidence, audio evidence or statements from witnesses of the alleged event smacks of a ‘show trial’. Furthermore, the experts found that had Suarez used the term ‘negro’ in the context he claims, it would not have been racially offensive. These are pretty solid reasons to stand behind our player.
There is of course the possibility that Suarez could be guilty. Just as there is the possibility that Schmeichel was guilty of racially abusing Ian Wright all those years ago.
But there is NO evidence to prove these claims or refute these claims. We are ultimately left with one man’s word against another’s.
Yet the media have continually ignored these facts, and have even gone on to misreport and manipulate the truth. Without presenting the actual Liverpool FC standpoint on this, they have labelled us “tribal†and “blindly faithful†and accused us of undermining the anti-racism movement in this country.
The press, anti-racist spokespeople and opposing fans demand that we sacrifice Luis Suarez and our own convictions for the good of society, without taking into consideration our misgivings of the decision.
It is clear for many that since the release of the FA’s report, Liverpool FC, Liverpool fans and Luis Suarez have been subjected to what can only be described as a smear campaign, based on half-truths, non-truths and just plain nonsense.
By Max Bloggs
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Are you a frequent visitor to Premier League games at Anfield?… If so our good friend Kirsty over at The Liver Birds Blog is after your help!
As part of her college work she is presently researching adult ticket prices for Premier League matches at Anfield. So just a couple of minutes of your time will really help her out no end, to draw some conclusions on are they really value for money?”
If you have any questions in regards to this then you can also reach out to Kirsty on Twitter at @lfckirstylfc
Your participation and feedback are massively appreciated, please use the image link below to start the survey. It would be fantastic to get a lot of both male and female opinion on this!
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If you haven’t downloaded it yet, then here is a little reminder that episode 29 of The Anfield Wrap Podcast is available for download.
Episode 29 Overview
“This week Neil is joined by Rob, Mike, Kristian, Jim, Andy and very special guests Daniel Hunt and Earl Jenkins.
Usual script with the lads as they disect the Spurs and United games before discussing the fallout from the events at Old Trafford at the weekend.”
You can catch up with the team in between Podcasts for their take on footie, fashion, music and culture on Twitter at @theanfieldwrap . Here are the links to grab the latest podcast either as a direct download or via iTunes as you prefer.
An article by Red Bubble for Kop That. You can follow Red Bubble on Twitter at @RedBubble1892
Success. No one is entitled to it. Not even Liverpool Football Club. Our club has a long and famous history. A history filled not only with trophies, but epic nights the supporters of most other clubs will never get to experience. Our past is certainly something to be proud of and in my opinion should be a spur and powerful motivator for current and future footballers lucky enough wear our sacred Liverbird upon their chests. Those who feel inhibited by it, and see it as a weight on their shoulders, will never have the mental capacity to succeed at Anfield regardless of how much footballing ability they possess. No one should ever forget what we have achieved or where we’ve come from, facing and overcoming tragedy along the way.
In the pre-Sky days, the size of a club was measured by their fan base and most importantly the success they’d achieved on the pitch. Trophies at the end of the season were what made you famous. Can you imagine anyone outside the participating countries knowing who was playing in the European Cup in the 60′s and 70′s? No, they simply saw the names in the record books. The winners.
We live in a different footballing world today. One where the landscape is shaped by the money clubs spend and the kudos gained from playing in the Champions League. A time of Sky Sports and their blanket coverage of football. Before the Premier League, the opinions of supporters (and I use the term loosely) we’re formed by what they saw at the match, together with the odd clip on the Match of the Day, as well as newspaper and radio reports. Today supporters believe what they are told. They are brainwashed by Sky and the national press. Today a big club is no longer the one with the most trophies, it’s the one with the most money.
The past 21 years have been difficult for supporters of Liverpool. Those who grew up watching us lift tittle after title have gone a generation without one and ‘generation Sky’ are convinced the Champions League is the holy grail…that is participating in it, not winning it.
Like I’ve already said, our history is something to be fiercely proud of and something we should always defend. Living in London it’s amazing how much I hear the phrase “all you talk about is history”. This, without fail, comes from supporters of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United. Knowing plenty of supporters of Crystal Palace and Tottenham, it’s curious that they never seem to take issue with what a club has achieved in the past.
You may think I am now going to proceed to argue a case against the supporters of other clubs but in fact it’s our supporters I want to take issue with. The supporters who think that because of the trophies we’ve won in the past (our 18 league titles in particular) we are entitled to challenge for or, more ludicrously at the current time, win the league. The supporters who think that because we played in it for a number of years and constantly have it drummed into them by Sky and the press that non-qualification is a monumental failure, demand we finish in the top 4 at the end of the season.
I’m tired of sitting on a coach heading back to London after a game listening to the phone-ins and hearing people complain. Whether its a Kopite of 40 years or an armchair out of towner, they have one of the above reasons to gripe at Kenny and the players. We are where we are because it’s where we deserve to be based on our performances on the pitch. If the players who have arrived for huge fees and even bigger wages are up to the standards of our past is an argument for another day, as is who should be held accountable for spending large sums on players who may or may not turn out to be of the required quality.
My personal opinion is that if we win a trophy this season, no matter which it may be, it will have been a successful one even if we fail to finish in the top 4. There are only 3 domestic trophies handed out each year and when you win one your name goes in the record books, where it will remain for as long as football is played and maybe even an infinite amount of time beyond that. Granted, that may mean nothing to you or I in 100 years but what about the memory of being there the day you saw Liverpool win a trophy? I know that when I die and my life flashes before me the footballing pictures I’ll see aren’t Champions League qualifiers against Standard Liege and group games against Porto. It’ll be Robbie Fowler and Jamie Redknapp lifting the FA Cup in Cardiif. It’ll be Djibril Cisse dancing around the European Cup in Istanbul. It’ll be God and Samy Hyypia, lips pressed against either side of the UEFA Cup in Dortmund. These are the moments we live for as football supporters.
Hope, as we all know, is a great thing. So is expectation when it takes the form of high standards. Our club was built on the simple idea that first is first and second is nothing. Expectation, however, can quickly become a negative noose around the necks of players and manager when it becomes unrealistic. As much as we have achieved in the past and as much as our standards dictate our club exists to win trophies, today we only deserve to win what we are good enough to win today. No one ever won a league title because they’d previously won 18 in 119 years. If you genuinely believe our current squad of players is better than that of Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea and the rest, then by all means moan as much as you want about not winning the league or making the top 4. I would suggest you have a reality check. At best, we are currently the 4th best team in the league behind the two Mancs and Tottenham. At worst, we are the 7th best behind those already mentioned and arguably Newcastle. With the players we have today, to finish 4th is the most we should expect from our league season and a couple of places lower is not necessarily failure. No one wants to see Liverpool without Champions League football but, despite what the national press and Sky say, it’s not the be all and end all. If we finish between 4th and 6th this year and win a trophy, I for one will be happy. Even if next season it means Thursday nights on Channel 5.
By Red Bubble
You can follow Justin Heron & Kop That on TwitterAn article for Kop That by George Clark. You can follow George on Twitter at @lfcgeorgeclarky
On Sunday Ian Ayre, Kenny Dalglish and Luis Suarez all came out with their own personal statements, admitting their embarrassment over the situation and their wrong doings. This happened after Suarez refused to shake Evra’s hand when Liverpool faced Man Utd at the weekend.
Everyone has their thoughts on it, and personally, I believe it was childish and let Kenny down, who throughout the whole issue has given Suarez his full backing, almost draining Kenny and his employers dry.
When questioned by Jeff Shreeves after the match about Luis’ decision to snub Evra, Kenny was quick to react saying Shreeves was bang out of order to even try and blame Suarez for the increased tension throughout the game. But even so, Kenny’s words alone were not strong enough to make the headlines as Ferguson said in his post-match interview that Suarez is a disgrace to Liverpool Football Club and should be kicked out of the club. I do believe Ferguson acted in a highly unprofessional manner but the way in which Liverpool have handled the situation has been poor  considering it could have been over and done with by now with a quick apology from Suarez as soon as Evra made the claims.
The situation we’re in
It’s quite clear now to most fans that Suarez did act in a racist manner towards Evra but those actions alone do not make you a racist – Something which is a common image being painted by many footballing fans. Not only do people believe that Suarez is racist, I often hear fellow Liverpool fans being called racists just because we are backing our own player.
As I’ve mentioned, the way Liverpool, as a club, have handled the issue has been poor, including the fans. But I don’t believe in any way that everyone else has acted in a better manner. The media have stirred up a lot of trouble surrounding the case and the FA have not had a positive impact. I find it strange how the FA bail out two Englishmen by calling off the handshake, But when it comes to two Foreigners the FA couldn’t care less.
People should be careful what they wish for, because at the end of the day, no-one is bigger than the club. We should now put this behind us, beat Brighton at the weekend and Win the League Cup.
YNWA.
By George Clark
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Search "morgans-auctions-2013" on eBay to see items from #gerrard #carragher #suarez #rooney #bale #ronaldo #reina #oscar and more
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