Liverpool FC Forum

[red37]

Right. Champions League business.

(Some kind of resilient attempt at deflecting the echoing, ominous overtures of this exasperating seasons 'off the pitch' activities from ringing out all too loud and disturbingly shrill in our ears) They aint going to dissipate into the ether...and matters are clearly building up towards a pretty messy conclusive endgame. When is there any OTHER kind... That is an altogether 'different' fight to be fought, when/if the occasion demands such a show of strength  - a unified display of support for one of a kind, one of our 'own' - inevitably, it seems that it undoubtedly will. Little reason to understate the principle cause of this solidarity here and for the umpteenth time.  Simply, the manager - Benitez. (As he is customarily regarded within the media circus circle). The fella who perhaps remains the single most tenuous of links between what might be, what we all hope to be once again - as opposed to the dark, depths of an abyss. A precipice upon which the very foundations of Liverpool Football club finds itself peering into on an almost daily occurrence. Sadly.

Moreover, there are evidently far greater reasons to be humble and dignified - not concerned with all this Boardroom s.*i*e - around and about these parts in approximately 14 hours time. One particular individual however will no doubt be rather more concerned with their meticulous and fastidiously 'childish' misrepresentation of all the slings and arrows woven with egotistical bitterness within his prepared script ahead of 'a certain rendezvous' with a 'certain corporation' sometime on Wednesday. ....barely some 24 hours after the supporters of 'his' (yes thats right HIS club) have finished wiping away the homage of 19 years worth of tears from their eyes. Classy guy.

***************************************************

This club is built on far sterner stuff supporting its beating red heart than the mere anxiety aroused by facing up the opposition (ANY opposition) pitchside. Even the mancs in Moscow! - Maybe.

The ogres and the Devils which lie in wait preparing to sabotage the welfare and the eventual prognosis of this clubs stability are preserved for another days battle. One that will be thrashed out in the Boardroom...the Courthouse..and the ramifications of which, will reverberate throughout many an Alehouse before the never ending prostitution of this football clubs ultimate destiny is determined. In any case....the road ahead is strewn with obstacles of a different kind which need to be overcome in due course. But we love a good fight though.....thats exactly why you are filled with pride at the very mention of the name Liverpool F.C. Kind of a psychological kick in the sack for your enemy before you've even seen the whites of his eyes.

Here and now - and the meandering message purported to be the reason for yet another thread of epic proportion - (if not entirely magnificently penned relating to its content). Apologetically, as appears to be protocol. I'll get to the point of my thread. Bookings/Suspensions ahead of the latter stages of this years Champions League. (wtf was all that guff about up there then?) Well, i had the intention of dissuading myself from trying to allow it to 'bother' me. But unfortunately i can't do that. Like a stone in your shoe...a bee in your bonnet...a Hicks in your club. Its an unwanted irritation that niggles away until it pi55es you right off and you are left to contemplate the why's and the wherefores. Your left wondering 'How, infact this problem is going to be looked into, dealt with and countered should it actually transpire' Well...

Aside from the normal bog standard of officiating domestically. Continental referees (by and large) aren't on the whole...usually (see where im heading here) more or less that far off a consistent enough level to offer the slenderest glimmer of hope towards a fair and unbiased approach to the 'general' common or garden decisions taken during a game. Yes, there have been some stinkers over the years. No names though at this point.  Save to say, i'd be pretty much content with any of them (except Fandel) covering one of our next three CL matches. Although how the hell it will be dealt with should an unprecedented all North-West final between us and Manchester United happens, is anyones wild and unsavoury stab in the dark. And good luck to whoever draws that one out the hat!

In light of this and perhaps more pertinently regarding the next TWO games that we are definitely participating in against Chelsea - (The final-should Liverpool reach it) could be a whole new kettle of fish dependant or not on how the club fare under who's officiating jurisdiction circumstances arise in which its CL fate may yet be decided upon the next shuffle of the pack related to the performance of these 'officials' over the next two-legged tie. Its tantamount to being as random as that, as to whether or not Liverpool could fore go the services of one or both of its native players.  The core and essence of its strength.


Here is a chart displaying the current state of play concerning this scenario:

LFC vs CFC


And as a comparison. The statistics involved in the other Semi-final between Barcelona and Man. Utd. Yeah - makes interesting reading alright!

FCB vs MUFC


Anyway, its something that will always have to be factored in during any cup run of course. But its not really ever been an issue worth highlighting in the past with any note. However the prospect is very real. I sincerely hope that remains the case for safe passage through to Rafa's third Champions League final in four years. With any luck!   


YNWA 96. R.I.P

[Rush Job]

Ive been thinking the same thing red, worrying to say the least. I think Carra should take a booking in the next match as long as we have a lead to take to theirs but SG will just have to walk the line unless we are 3 nil up with less than 10 minutes to go.
Its stupid imo and it only hurts the final as a specticle, yellows shouldnt count you should only miss the final if your sent off in the game before.

[Owzat]

Its stupid imo and it only hurts the final as a specticle, yellows shouldnt count you should only miss the final if your sent off in the game before.

It weighs too much on the minds of players, and they are known to take a yellow to choose the game they miss. I'd rather the rule were :-

- two yellows in consecutive games = one match suspension
- three yellows in non-consecutive games = one match suspension
- five yellows in the competition = play no more games

I would do away with amnesties, the players only play fifteen games and I reckon the above is fair. You get a card's grace if you aren't booked in consecutive games and an outright ban for getting five yellows. I think that's pretty reasonable, should cut out plenty of needless yellows for time wasting, kicking the ball away, dissent etc.

Players will know that not getting booked five times in fifteen games isn't difficult, it also means instead of looking when to get booked for that suspension that they can't afford to take  chances and chose to get booked and the game to miss. I certainly think it makes more sense than the current system

[Rush Job]

Its stupid imo and it only hurts the final as a specticle, yellows shouldnt count you should only miss the final if your sent off in the game before.

It weighs too much on the minds of players, and they are known to take a yellow to choose the game they miss. I'd rather the rule were :-

- two yellows in consecutive games = one match suspension
- three yellows in non-consecutive games = one match suspension
- five yellows in the competition = play no more games

I would do away with amnesties, the players only play fifteen games and I reckon the above is fair. You get a card's grace if you aren't booked in consecutive games and an outright ban for getting five yellows. I think that's pretty reasonable, should cut out plenty of needless yellows for time wasting, kicking the ball away, dissent etc.

Players will know that not getting booked five times in fifteen games isn't difficult, it also means instead of looking when to get booked for that suspension that they can't afford to take  chances and chose to get booked and the game to miss. I certainly think it makes more sense than the current system

But that would mean more suspensions. Im just on about the final where the best players should be on show.

[Seano Kop]

All cards should be erased after the Quarter Finals, so there is a clean slate. Therefore, the only reason one would miss the final is via a red card, which is fair enough.

[Sabre]

As always I've learned 4 or 5 new words in English with Red37's posts (this time, shrill, resilient, ominous, and unsure about prognosis, wich in my own language means "knowing in advance, almost predict" where as I'm not sure how Red uses it.) Thanks because you bother to write well and that's handy for learners like me

As usual, after the translation process the result is an interesting post with good thoughts.

The first part of the post has been strangely comforting, despite he describes all the turmoil and problems there are on the club as an institution. But it's comforting to realise how our man, our crowd, and our players are performing well and giving their best despite all that. It makes you feel proud to be part of a community like this.

About the topic of suspensions, which to be honest I didn't see coming because you had me thinking of the passion and strenghth of Liverpool men and women , it's one I think it must be analysed.

I personally do not like this kind of suspensions, because it removes shine from the matches, and brings very unfair situations. You have to analyse from time to time, what are the rules, and which PURPOSE they serve. I guess that the initial idea of this suspensions was to protect fair playing teams from those who were  nasty. But the things as they are, go against all teams and good football as a whole.

I think a yellow and a red is something related to a game. If the purpose of the rule is to disuade from nasty tackles, then show more red cards, be more strict about the attitudes you want to penalise and send off more players if necessary. But do not let out of a final a player just because he protested a decission at some point. It goes against the game.

[Owzat]

Its stupid imo and it only hurts the final as a specticle, yellows shouldnt count you should only miss the final if your sent off in the game before.

It weighs too much on the minds of players, and they are known to take a yellow to choose the game they miss. I'd rather the rule were :-

- two yellows in consecutive games = one match suspension
- three yellows in non-consecutive games = one match suspension
- five yellows in the competition = play no more games

I would do away with amnesties, the players only play fifteen games and I reckon the above is fair. You get a card's grace if you aren't booked in consecutive games and an outright ban for getting five yellows. I think that's pretty reasonable, should cut out plenty of needless yellows for time wasting, kicking the ball away, dissent etc.

Players will know that not getting booked five times in fifteen games isn't difficult, it also means instead of looking when to get booked for that suspension that they can't afford to take  chances and chose to get booked and the game to miss. I certainly think it makes more sense than the current system

But that would mean more suspensions. Im just on about the final where the best players should be on show.

How would it mean more suspensions? A suspension for three yellows instead of two should mean less not more. If you geet consecutive bookings you wouldn't then get a yellow for a third, they would count towards the five but not the three.

In fact I think you'll find players will be careful about getting booked if five yellows mean they could miss a final. It wouldn't affect most sides anyway, the prospects of playing the full fifteen are pretty small.


Let's say Hyypia is booked in the qualifier 2nd leg. He is a good boy and avoids a booking in the first group game, but then gets booked in the third and fourth. He misses one game, his tally is then three yellows. He comes back and gets booked in the QF so he treads carefully not wishing to be banned outright. He doesn't get two suspensions for the consecutive yellows and accumulating three, only the one.

Of course this wouldn't be a common occurence, players know when they're facing a suspension so do try and avoid yellows. And not all teams will be playing from the qualifiers through to the final, if I could be bothered to check I would guess Liverpool could well be the only team to win it having finished third or fourth in their league.

[stmichael]

one of either drogba or joe cole will undoubtedly dive and get carragher booked, aka gudjohnsen on alonso 2005.

[red37]

Konrad Plautz is the ref against Chelsea. No comment except....be prepared for anything. This c*nt loves himself.

[LFC2007]

He did the Marseille home game. He's a bit of a Bennett I think - not good.

[red37]

Hopefully Senor Rosetti has a 'good' game tomorrow....

[Reg]

Bottom line we have picked up far too many yellow/red cards throughout the competition - 6 less than ManUre.

[Judge]

As always I've learned 4 or 5 new words in English with Red37's posts (this time, shrill, resilient, ominous, and unsure about prognosis, wich in my own language means "knowing in advance, almost predict" where as I'm not sure how Red uses it.) Thanks because you bother to write well and that's handy for learners like me

learners 

[holylamb2006]

I hope we get Webb he's neva bias against anyone

[bigmick]

Reds posts always have an educational slant to them and I enjoy reading them I must admit. I'm not always entirely sure what the feck he's actually on about, but I can't help thinking that's more down to my ignorance than his inability to post properly. This thing about the card situation is an interesting one, and with both Carragher and Gerrard on a yellow, the odds on one or the other of them getting stiffed must be quite short. This is particularly the case when you consider that whoever should prevail in the game, i think it's a reasonably safe bet that we are going to be under the cosh for fairly long periods. When you add in the fact that Drogba is normally at his most theatrical during european games, Carra in particular looks vulnerable. I just hope that nobody gets an Alonso style stitch up and if they do get carded, it is actually for a legitimate foul.