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Joined: Jul 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 4,632 Location: A dark spooky haunted castle Karma: 54
FA Cup 3rd Round Draw « Result #1 Yesterday at 6:54pm »
FA CUP 3RD ROUND DRAW
Tottenham v Peterborough United Brentford v Doncaster Rovers Middlesbrough v Manchester City Stoke City v York City Notts County v Forest Green Rovers Huddersfield Town v West Bromwich Albion Sheffield United v QPR MK Dons v Burnley Chelsea v Watford Nottingham Forest v Birmingham City Preston North End v Colchester United West Ham United v Arsenal Aston Villa v Blackburn Rovers Portsmouth v Coventry City Sunderland v Oxford United or Barrow Wigan Athletic v Hull City Everton v Carlisle United Sheffield Wednesday v Crystal Palace Tranmere Rovers or Aldershot Town v Wolves Blackpool v Ipswich Town Fulham v Swindon Town Stockport County or Torquay v Brighton Scunthorpe United v Barnsley Southampton v Rotherham United or Luton Town Bristol City v Cardiff City Reading v Liverpool Staines Town or Millwall v Derby County Plymouth Argyle v Newcastle United Leicester City v Swansea City Bolton Wanderers v Lincoln City Accrington Stanley or Barnet v Gillingham Manchester United v Kettering Town or Leeds United
Joined: Jul 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 4,632 Location: A dark spooky haunted castle Karma: 54
Rafa talks of his passion for LFC « Result #6 on Nov 27, 2009, 8:04pm »
27 nov 09 - taken from lfc.tv
I thought peeps would be interested in this, its very good
Rafa Benitez spoke about his 'love' for Liverpool Football Club during a passionate interview with radio journalists on Friday afternoon.
Rafa on the situation he finds himself in...
When I decided to stay here I knew it could be a difficult season because I knew a lot of things could happen. I was a Real Madrid fan. You know Agustin, Garcia Cortes, Garcia Navajas, Sabido, Del Bosque, Angel, Camacho, Stielike, Juanito, Santillana, Cunningham - that's the team that played in the European Cup final against Liverpool in 1981. Why am I telling you this? I was a Real Madrid fan and player at the time but I have decided to stay at Liverpool because I like the city, the life here and the passion of the fans. When I signed a new contract it was because I wanted to stay and fight for this club. Sometimes you have good moments, sometimes bad, but still I want to fight. We will play in the Europa League and that will be our target, we will play against Everton and that will be our target. Every single week we will fight to win.
Rafa on offers from elsewhere...
When I signed my contract I had offers for more money and more money available for players, but I decided to stay because we have a very good team. I signed, I was really pleased and I have no regrets. I've had a lot of offers but I say 'No, no' because I want to stay here. The last offer was massive money but I decided to stay. We were talking about the number of years and I said five - it was very easy, very simple. I gave my word to the staff, I gave my word to the players. I love this city, I love this club and I love the fans.
Rafa on fan frustration
You cannot be a fan and be happy if your team is not winning. You have to be disappointed. The only thing you can do is try to understand. I will not make excuses because we know we have to improve - but we know we can improve. That's the positive thing, for me. Everyone close to Liverpool has to be disappointed but as a manager you have to keep going and working hard.
Rafa on the length of our disappointing spell...
For a club like us not to win for three or four games is not easy. But sometimes these things happen in football. The manager of Real Madrid in 1981 had a very famous saying - football is football. It's not very clever but it says everything. Football is different to the other sports.
Rafa on the burden of success...
I have had the same problem for the last four or five years because we won the Champions League and FA Cup, and before that with Valencia the Spanish league and UEFA Cup.
Rafa on the press Liverpool gets...
We have seen for years that Liverpool is a top side, a very successful club - so it's easy for people to say we have to win. When I first arrived it was a case of improving - just improving was good. But then we won the Champions League for the first time in 21 years - that's longer than the wait for the league. So now people talk about the Premier League. That's a situation you have to accept at a top side but maybe Liverpool is different still because last year we couldn't win the Premier League - Arsenal have won it, Chelsea have won it, United have won it. So Liverpool are the only one. The rest of the teams in the Premier League don't have to same expectations. But it's a long race and we will improve as the season goes along. It doesn't matter what a lot of people who are talking say. Maybe they want to take advantage of the situation. But we will improve, we'll win games, and everything will change.
Rafa on Everton
These games are similar every year. A lot of passion in the stands and also on the pitch. You have to play a physical game ad you have to play well. It'll be a high tempo with direct play and needing to win second balls. Hopefully it'll be good for our fans - especially our fans. It's an important game for everyone in the city but at the end of the day it's three points in a crucial time for everyone.
Rafa on the fight he sees in his players...
I have seen the press and I'm really pleased with the reaction of Gerrard, Torres and Pepe Reina. All the players know we have to push hard and improve, starting right now. I was talking to some of them about belief and trust. They know we are together working hard. That's the main thing for me. The players want to prove we are good enough, and not just in the derby. They want to prove we can be in the top four, at least. If we can win one or two games you will see a massive difference.
Rafa on getting the backing of Christian Purslow...
It's really important, but I already knew because we have conversations every day about everything. To go and say he was supporting me is positive because the last two months a lot of people have been talking too much. People at the top, the players, the kit man - everyone is sticking together.
Rafa on contact with the owners...
Not this week. I had some contact last week. They have Christian Purslow in charge. Christian was in Hungary and we've been talking this week, yesterday and this morning. We know what's going on and we're moving forward.
Rafa on what it takes to win a derby...
These games are similar every year. A lot of passion in the stands and also on the pitch. You have to play a physical game and you have to play well. It'll be a high tempo with direct play and needing to win second balls. Hopefully it'll be good for the fans - especially our fans. It's an important game for everyone in the city but at the end of the day it's three points in a crucial time for everyone.
Rafa on tempering emotions of his players...
Yes, I will try! Sometimes you cannot but I will try to get the right messages across. Sometimes with our staff - Sammy Lee has a lot of spirit and passion but we'll try to manage. We need this passion but we also need to do the right things.
Rafa on winning the derby...
If we can win against Everton it will be a sunny Monday.
Joined: Jul 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 4,632 Location: A dark spooky haunted castle Karma: 54
Re: Debrecen v Liverpool - Champs Lge - Match Repo « Result #12 on Nov 24, 2009, 10:48pm »
RAFA: WE MUST HOLD HEADS HIGH
Rafa Benitez believes Liverpool can still enjoy a successful season in 2009-10 - but warned his players not to let their Champions League exit affect performances over the coming weeks.
The Reds did all they could by beating Debrecen 1-0 thanks to a David Ngog strike - but Fiorentina's victory over Lyon by the same scoreline meant we crashed out at the group stage for the first time under Benitez.
The boss admitted he was disappointed for the fans but urged everyone to stay positive ahead of a crucial Merseyside derby at the weekend.
Everton are one of the sides Liverpool could meet in the Europa League - and memories of a glorious campaign in 2001 means Steven Gerrard and co will be going all out to reach the final in Hamburg.
Benitez said: "You have to be disappointed. We did our job here but we cannot change things. If you analyse the games, two late goals against Lyon were a massive difference.
"You have the first half against Fiorentina and the two late goals but that's football and sometimes you can't control things. We had chances in all of the games - we could have won all of them.
"We have been so good in the last few years that people think it's easy to progress. You can see every year we've qualified and everyone expects us to be in the final.
"But the fans realise the team worked so hard and you can't expect more. We made two mistakes late against Lyon but the fans have some experience in Europe.
"We have to be positive, we have a massive game on Sunday and we have to make sure we are ready.
"I like to win every game and be as high as possible in all the competitions but I think more about the players, the staff and the fans and I'm disappointed for everyone.
"To win is always the target but when you are doing as well as you can you just have to think about the next target. We cannot win the Champions League, we know that. A lot of teams don't play in the Champions League. So we have to think about Everton and then the Europa League.
"The players know it's been a bad run of games but to win here and to show we can create a lot of chances is positive."
Asked if he and his team were keeping abreast of events in Italy during the Debrecen game, Benitez added: "At half-time we knew (it was 1-0) and we were waiting afterwards for news but the players didn't know."
Joined: Jul 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 4,632 Location: A dark spooky haunted castle Karma: 54
Re: Debrecen v Liverpool - Champs Lge - Match Repo « Result #13 on Nov 24, 2009, 10:34pm »
24 nov 09
GERRARD: WE'LL GO FOR EUROPA LEAGUE
Steven Gerrard reflected on Liverpool's European heartbreak and declared: 'We're out of the Champions League - now let's go and win the Europa League.'
A fourth minute strike from David Ngog gave the Reds a 1-0 victory over Debrecen in Budapest - but it wasn't enough to save their European Cup status as Fiorentina beat Lyon in Italy.
While Gerrard accepts it is a blow to have bowed out of the tournament at the group stage, the captain is confident the season can still end in success for Rafael Benitez's side.
"The disappointing thing was having to rely on other teams going into tonight," said Gerrard.
"We've played fantastically well tonight and deserved the three points, so it's disappointing that we won't progress in the Champions League.
"You get what you deserve in this competition and the two late goals we conceded against Lyon have been crucial. But it's gone now - it's in the past and we've got to move on.
"We're in the Europa League and we'll go and try to win it.
"Tonight's performance was encouraging and we can build on that. We've got a lot of players coming back from injury so hopefully it's onwards and upwards from here."
The results mean Liverpool will drop down into the Europa League - a competition the Reds last won on a memorable night in Dortmund in 2001.
Asked if the players would find it difficult to pick themselves up to play in the tournament, Gerrard replied: "Of course because the main prize has gone.
"When you start the season, you want to stay in the Champions League as long as possible, so to be playing in the Europa League is disappointing.
"But we have to accept that, move on and go and try and win it.
"The only consolation from losing out on the Champions League is to go and win the one that comes second."
Gerrard admits Liverpool's primary short-term focus will be attempting to secure a top four finish this campaign and a return to the Champions League in 2010-11.
"It's important we finish in the top four, that goes without saying," he added.
"For financial reasons, but also from a personal point of view it is important for players to play in the Champions League because it's the best level.
"It's important we go to Everton on Sunday, try to get the three points and get ourselves back in the top four as soon as possible.
"Now that we've got the majority of the squad back fit, I'm very confident we can turn things around and go on a long run of winning games.
"Hopefully Torres is not too far away and then we'll have everyone back fit and go from there."
*lfc.tv
HE SOUNDS GOOD AND POSITIVE, AS I SAID BEFORE IT HAPPENED MAN U A COUPLE OF YEARS BACK AND IT DIDN'T DO THEM NO HARM, AS LONG AS PEEPS DONT GO OVER BOARD CALLING FOR RAFA TO GO ETC
gonzales Anfield Legend Scousy's official annoyance member is offline
KING RAFA THE GAFFER
Joined: Aug 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 1,748 Location: Ireland Karma: 50
Hart leaves Portsmouth « Result #14 on Nov 24, 2009, 6:55pm »
Hart leaves Portsmouth
Former boss turns down role of technical director
Portsmouth have confirmed that manager Paul Hart has left Fratton Park with immediate effect.
A statement on the club's official website said: "Portsmouth Football Club can confirm that Paul Hart has been relieved of his duties as first-team manager.
"The decision has been made reluctantly by the board and is based on results that leave the club at the bottom of the Premier League.
"Paul was offered the role of technical director, developing players from the ages of 18-21, but declined the position. Replacement
"The club plans to announce a replacement very quickly and until that time the players will be led by first-team coaches Paul Groves and Ian Woan."
Chief executive Peter Storrie said: "Paul has worked under very difficult circumstances with the financial restrictions the club has faced since he took over.
"However, the board feels that the team should have accrued more points to date and that we need a new man in charge to ensure Premier League survival.
"The board would like to thank Paul for his work not only in keeping the club in the Premier League last season but also for his time in charge of youth development.
"Paul is a man of great dignity and we hoped he would stay and help us develop younger players on the fringes of the first team. We are genuinely sad to see him leave. Everyone at the club wishes him well for the future."
gonzales Anfield Legend Scousy's official annoyance member is offline
KING RAFA THE GAFFER
Joined: Aug 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 1,748 Location: Ireland Karma: 50
Arsene Wenger Feels Sorry For Liverpool « Result #16 on Nov 24, 2009, 6:38pm »
Arsenal Boss Arsene Wenger Feels Sorry For Liverpool
Gunners gaffer claims Reds have been unlucky this season…
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he can sympathise with Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez's current plight, and believes that the Merseysiders have been the victims of some bad luck this season.
Liverpool travel to Debrecen this week facing elimination from the Champions League. The Frenchman does not think the Anfield outfit's fans deserve to see their club in such a precarious situation.
"I have a huge sympathy for Liverpool," he told the Gunners' official website.
"I can elaborate because first of all it is a hugely historical club.
"And I have a massive respect for their fans who, for me, have always been outstanding."
Wenger feels that those fans have become a little quieter than usual in recent weeks, as the pressure of an extended run of poor form has made everyone at Anfield much more anxious than usual.
"I must say I watched a little bit of the [2-2 draw at home to] Manchester City and their fans looked to be a little bit affected by fear as well because it was the first time I saw them a bit quiet," he added.
"As well, I feel Liverpool have been a little bit unlucky in the last six weeks; they do not get from the games what they deserve."
gonzales Anfield Legend Scousy's official annoyance member is offline
KING RAFA THE GAFFER
Joined: Aug 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 1,748 Location: Ireland Karma: 50
Shay Given Thanks Fans At Anfield « Result #17 on Nov 24, 2009, 6:28pm »
Manchester City's Shay Given Thanks Fans At Anfield For Support
Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given has revealed that the reception he received from both sets of supporters at Liverpool on Saturday helped ease the pain of the Republic of Ireland's controversial World Cup exit to France last week.
Both City and 'Pool fans acclaimed the keeper on his entrance to the ground and Given was gratified that supporters took the time to make him feel welcome at Anfield.
"I think the Kop is well known for giving goalkeepers a good reception but Saturday was even more special after what happened on Wednesday. I want to thank them and our fans for the support they gave me," he told City's official website.
"It was an emotional week for me – it would have been nice to win the game on Saturday but it was not a bad point away at Liverpool.
"I had not slept much since the Wednesday night, but something like that does give you a lift, and the support of all the lads at the club has been great as well."
The game on Saturday kicked off at lunchtime and Given was pleased that the early start gave him an opportunity to quickly put international disappointment behind him.
"I had to turn around quickly with an early kick-off on Saturday to try to put Wednesday behind me," he explained.
"It was hard, but we have some really big games coming up fast and it's getting exciting for us so I had to switch on straight away, but all the backing I had gave me a massive lift."
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