Rallying Call for all Liverpool Fans -The Identity of LFC

In the midst of the media frenzy surrounding Liverpool's recent form and freakish bad luck, the press sharks are circling, waiting hungrily for Liverpool to drop more points, notepads in hands, licking the tips of their pencils with a predatory look in their eyes.

And yet there is a note of hope. A reminder to all those would-be journalists of what Liverpool was, is and still will be. A reminder that Liverpool is still the single most successful football club in the Premiership. Manchester Utd may well be drawing level with them on League titles, but Liverpool are still the number one English force in Europe.

They are still without doubt, the club that every other club seeks to model itself upon. A poeple's club. A bastion of days of glory that still echo through fortress Anfield, reflected in the voices and faces of it's ever-loyal fans.

The corporate greed of Americans will never stifle what Liverpool stands for. Nor will the slapdash paparazzi or the cash-driven scum that are known as the modern media. For Liverpool stands in the care of its custodians. And the custodians of the club are not the owners. The custodians of the club are not its board of directors. The true custodians of Liverpool Football Club are its fans.

They stand tall and ever proud, savagely defiant in the face of the tyrannical American greed machine that is stubbornly doing its best to bleed it dry. However, Liverpool is the peoples club, gifted to them by the greatest footballing figure ever known, and the media hyenas that are gleefully baying for the clubs downfall would do well to remember what is possible when the Anfield faithful sense a threat to their beloved club.

The media would do well to remember what happened to certain newspaper when disgusting allegations were printed for all to read. Liverpool fans will not sit idly by while the loathsome red top rags try to make an example of a club that made English football what it is today.

As 20,000 reds once proudly chanted: "You got your education from the Kop".

It is absolutely unacceptable that anyone should drag Liverpools name through the mud like some two-bit Burlesque whore, after all of its past glories, triumphs, and indeed its contribution to both the past and to the modern game. Liverpool is a proud, noble institution that deserves more respect, more humble recognition of what it stands for. It will not be tolerated.

Liverpool is far from finished. And this is far from over.

Liverpool Early Exit Highlights a Need For Change

Northampton fans will be singing and dancing all over the city for the next decade it seems, after shockingly dumping Liverpool FC out of the Carling Cup in the third round. It's a game that will live in the memories of the Cobblers for a long, long time to come, and will most certainly be a story told to grandchildren in front of a roaring fire.

However, footballing life goes on and Liverpool must now go about the task of reshaping and restructuring a new look squad, that so far hasn't really gelled, save for the game against Steua Bucharest, in which Liverpool hammered four in.

One big win against a Europa side however, simply isn't enough for the cup-hungry Anfield faithful. Already there are mutters of dissent over Rafael Benitez's departure and the appointment of his successor, Roy Hodgson.

Several comments were observed around Liverpool Forums during the Northampton game to the tune of: "hodgson won't last ten minutes" and "Should have given the job to King Kenny". Given Liverpool's poor start this season, such sentiment is almost understandable, however it is perhaps a little early to be judging a man who isn't used to dining at the top tables in Europe.

One thing is clear though, a change is needed, and a drastic one at that. Simply sitting 10 men behind a ball and playing cagey counter attacking football will no longer work in the top flight, as clubs spend more and more on outrageously overpriced players. The premiership has changed drastically over the last 5 years, with more mid-table teams than ever jostling for a place in Europe.

Money won't always be the deciding factor. Eventually, every club in the Premiership will have a foreign investor, and the likes of Chelsea and Man City will be averagely wealthy in the grand scheme of things.

In an exclusive interview with LFC TV, the club'f official TV channel, Christian Purslow confirmed that once Liverpool were eventually bought out, they would in fact be the most profitable club in the Premiership. He also said that current profits were being used to service debts loaded onto the club by it's American owners, and that he worked every single day towards one goal: ploughing those profits back into the pitch, the players and the facilities.

However rich a club is though, it needs a special person at the helm to make a difference, or indeed a very patient one who doesn't mind occasionally being used as a scapegoat. Avram Grant was a victim of such at Chelsea having lasted only a season before being sacked for failing to achieve the results desired by it's billionaire owner.

And so we swing back to Liverpool. If Liverpool are sold and are suddenly as cash rich as any other top flight club, will Roy be the man to take them forward? Or will he also face the axe (a 'la Rafa or Grant) for one bad season?

Or is Roy capable, or more more to the point, confident enough to ring the changes at Anfield and actually take some risks?

Game: Liverpool vs Sunderland 25th September 2010 (H)

Liverpool welcome Sunderland to Anfield on Saturday in what many are saying is a pivotal game on the back of their shock defeat to Northampton in the Carling Cup. The game was drawn at full time, with 2 more goals in extra time, taking the game to penalties. Liverpool subsequently crashed out 4-2.

At this point it seems Roy Hodgson needs to pull a rabbit out a hat as he tries to lift his demoralized troops. However, one can only wonder at his decision to leave out most of the senior squad, not even including Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres or Jamie Carragher on the bench. Roy had earlier challenged the youngsters to prove that they were stars by defeating Northampton, however this proved to be a most unwise move given the lack of experience on show.

Fast forward to Saturday and one has to wonder if the senior squad has what it takes to deal with an attacking Sunderland, with the likes of Zenden, Cattermole, and especially Bent, previously the subject of speculation about a move to Liverpool.

Torres (undoubtedly one of Liverpool's generals) is currently an enigma. There is a lot of speculation about him including doubts about match fitness, desire, tiredness, injury worries, confidence etc. The question must be asked: is the amount of media speculation affecting his concentration or confidence? He has shown small flashes of his best, contrary to what the rest of the press might say, including mazy runs, creating penalties and assisting goals.

It will be interesting on Saturday to see if Hodgson decides to drop his brand of seemingly very cautious play and actually go for the throat. In most people's opinion, this is a must, as Liverpool continue to languish at the bottom of the Premiership table.

A little less conversation, definitely a lot more action please.

Roy Hodgson - The Carling Cup Does Matter

Roy Hodgson has today revealed that he feels the Carling Cup is important to the club, with many supporters feeling that he wouldn't view the competition as a priority, while he also admits he will rest his star players.

Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the visit of Northampton Town on Wednesday, he said:

"It's a strange game for us in a sense.

"It's one where we definitely need to rotate the squad having played so many games, and with us having to play so many more before the international break.

"But on the other hand it's a competition I take very seriously and I want to have a good run in the competition. We are bothered.

"There's a responsibility on those who replace the big-name players like Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Pepe Reina and Jamie Carragher to name but four."

This should send out a great message of faith to the fringe players like Brad Jones, Suso, Shelvey etc, while he also added:

"To be fair they've shown themselves capable of taking on that burden in a couple of European matches already.

"As we saw in the last game against Steaua Bucharest, Jay Spearing was arguably one of the best players on the field.

"If you never give him a chance, how do you know that?"

Fan Power Stage 2

Ok, lets get stage 2 under way!

Taken Directly from http://www.lfcreds.com/reds/index.php?topic=33070.new#new

Hi all - again, the Kop Faithful guys and also the staff at YNWA.tv have prepared draft email text and have asked if we can help them - if you can, please send emails as instructed below. Your help's much appreciated.

The email, as you see, challenges the premise of any refinance to the current owners. If you've any questions for Kop Faithful please ask them here:
http://kopfaithful.org/

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To: stephen.hester@rbs.co.uk; john.hourican@rbs.com; roger.lowry@rbs.co.uk; rebecca.oliphant@rbs.com; richard.holliday@rbs.com; tommy.mclean@rbs.co.uk; customer.service.alerts@rbs.co.uk; online.service@rbs.co.uk; invoicefinance@rbs.co.uk; investor.relations@rbsir.com;tom.mckillop@rbs.co.uk; fred.goodwin@rbs.co.uk; guy.whittaker@rbs.co.uk; millermclean@rbs.co.uk; richard.oconnor@rbs.co.uk; info@rbsspreadtrading.co.uk; ellen.alemany@rbs.com; elaine.hunter@rbs.co.uk

CC: gngillett@bcmgt.com; ian.ayre@liverpoolfc.tv; philip.nash@liverpoolfc.tv; thicks@hicksholdings.com; tohjr@hicksholdings.com; martin.broughton@ba.com; mhicks@hicksholdings.com; stephen.schwarzman@blackstone.com; bennett.goodman@blackstone.com; timothy.white@gsocap.com; marketing@gsocap.com; jon.laycock@barcap.com; kopfaithful@hotmail.co.uk

Dear Mr Hester

Following revelations today that the private equity firm The Blackstone Group has ended talks with Tom Hicks regarding a £280m, two-year refinancing package, we ask that you finally take the appropriate action and call in the loans now and end the disastrous ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

We urge you to take the sale process out of the hands of the owners and their appointed representatives Barcap and focus on selling the club to suitable custodians who can bring stability to the football club, who will invest in the playing squad, and finally deliver the new stadium in Stanley Park on which the future prosperity of the club and the local area depends so much.

The Royal Bank of Scotland have previously stated that they wish to act in the best interests of Liverpool Football Club and that the long-term future of the club will be at the centre of any decisions. Well as a lifelong supporter of LFC and a British tax payer, clearly the best interests of all parties cannot be served by providing further extensions to the current financing arrangements, or by enabling Hicks and Gillett to remain in charge by any other means.

What we want

• Hicks and Gillett out now. RBS to call in the loans with immediate effect and oust the current owners.
• RBS to take over the club in the short-term and retain the current management team of Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow, Ian Ayre and Philip Nash who will continue to run the club on a daily basis until the club is sold.
• RBS to take control of the sale process from Barcap and seek suitable custodians who will: a) clear the current debt and not borrow against the assets of the club; b) run the club with a sensible business model; and c) Construct the new stadium in Stanley Park as soon as is reasonably practicable.

What we don't want

• RBS to extend the refinancing with Gillett and Hicks.
• RBS to sell the debt to a faceless investment bank who will load yet more debt onto LFC, increase the interest repayments, extend the disastrous ownership of Hicks and Gillett and put the final nail in the club's coffin.

Liverpool supporters worldwide are very concerned at the actions of RBS in recent days and get the impression that the bank want to wash their hands of the problems at LFC. While supporters are relieved that Blackstone appear to have pulled out of negotiations with Tom Hicks, inevitably it means that RBS' actions will once more become the main focus for the millions of LFC fans who've joined the successful email campaigns.

It is time for RBS to give something back to the Liverpool fans that contributed towards the £500bn taxpayer bailout, without which you wouldn't have a bank to manage.

Yours faithfully

The Kop Faithful - No to RBS refinance - Liverpool FC
http://kopfaithful.org/

Tom Hicks Suffers Major Blow

Tom Hicks has suffered a major setback in his attempt to regain control of Liverpool Football Club. Blackstone GSO have reportedly snubbed his request for aid in refinancing the clubs debt to RBS.

Over the weekend, following the news of his board meeting in London with Martin Broughton et al, Liverpool fans all over the world reacted angrily and voiced their displeasure at the Texan's latest plan.

The owner of Blackstone GSO, the American Billionaire Steve Schwarzmann, is a close personal friend of Hicks, and is the third richest man in America. This latest move was seen by some as a last desperate attempt to cling on to Liverpool for a further 2 years, while new owners were being sought out.

However, The Guardian has reported that Schwarzmann has walked away from the deal without comment and this can only mean that Hicks has failed.

There are still two weeks remaining until the current loans against Kop Holdings mature, however it seems unlikely that any buyers will come forward in that time. Indeed, it is estimated by many that there are many buyers waiting in the wings in order to get the club at the knockdown price of the club's debt, as opposed to the ridiculous asking price put in place by Hicks and Gillett.

Get Behind The Reds Now!

Over at http://www.empireofthekop.com, a storm is brewing. A letter, drafted by the site owners aims to keep Tom Hicks from refinancing his debt to RBS by using an outisde institution called Blackstone Associates.

They would like all red fans with access to email to send a copy of the letter to show that we will no longer sit down and take it. By putting pressure on Blackstone and letting them know what we are capable of (The Sun Boycott for example), we hope to prevent Hicks from taking full control of Liverpool again.

Click the link above and get in on the action now!

Lets do it!

UPDATE 20/09/10
Do not send any more emails. See this post instead.

Manchester Utd 3 - 2 Liverpool

Manchester Utd's Dimitar Berbatov finally showed signs of justifying his 30m price tag after 3 seasons, by scoring a hat trick to sink the reds at Old Trafford. Liverpool looked out of sorts in the first half, struggling to find any rythm, and failing to create many clear cut chances.

Late into the first half (41 minutes), Dimitar Berbatov managed to beat Pepe Reina while holding off Torres, heading it past the Spanish goalkeeper to make it 1-0 to the hosts. The rest of the first half played out fairly uneventfully, with the stats showing that Liverpool enjoyed more possession.

In the second half Liverpool seemed to up their game but Berbatov struck again in the 58th minute withan overhead kick that bounced off the crossbar and into Pepe Reinas goal. Some pundits have been touting this as brilliance and genius and such, however, it seemed more luck than judgement.

In the 62nd minute Evans brought down Torres in the box, and Liverpool were awarded a penalty, with Howard Webb failing to send off the offending player. Gerrard duly converted and the game was on.

In the 69th minute, John O'Shea was spared major blushes as he dragged down Torres just outside the box, who was clearly through on goal. The person who should be blushing is Howard Webb, for blatantly handing Manchester Utd the game on a plate. To think that a referee who was in charge of the World Cup finals didn't have the bottle to flash red is out of this world.

Gerrard stepped up again, and Darren Fletcher bottled it as Gerrards chest height drive came towards him. The ball sailed effortlessly past Van Der Saar and into the inside of his left post. 2-2.

Late in the second half, ALex Ferguson could be seen clearly to be berating the linesman, giving him verbal abuse over what was clearly a no-brainer decision for Howard Webb. And yet, Ferguson will walk away unscathed, his influence over the FA once more standing him in good stead. Disgusting.

Then there seemed to be a lull, as Liverpool seemed to accept that Webb was clearly biased against them, or so it seemed. In the 83rd minute Berbatov sealed the result with his hat trick, beating Jamie Carragher in the air to nod past Pepe Reina's outstretched right hand.

All in all, Manchester Utd had a very lucky break, with John O'Shea failing to walk for a stonewall red card offence. Alex Ferguson was once again bullying the linesmen, and Wayne Rooney decided to try and waste time holding the ball up near the Liverpool corner flag towards the end, which seemed to be a sign of desperation, and a display of nerves.

This was a typical Mancunian display of "do what we have to, even cheat, to get the win". Very disappointing in the world of modern day football. Liverpool deserved more help from a disillusioned referee today, and were very unlucky not to walk away with a point. Still, the Anfield return awaits, and with any luck the referee for that day will be wearing his glasses.

Alex Ferguson - It's all Rafa's Fault

Sir Alex Ferguson has hit out at former Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez by claiming its the Spaniards fault that Liverpool are in the mess they are in now. This should probably be interpreted as a reference to the playing squad as the club have announced they have satisfied the Premier League's requirements to continue meeting their wage bills and other financial commitments.

This also ties in with the fact that Fergie is quoted as saying "I don't know if Liverpool's current situation is anything to do with the financial position".

"In the last regime they spent a lot of money on players, far more than Manchester United did. They had a huge squad of players, so I don't know if the financial position is anything to do with it.

"I really don't know because I'm not there. So I can't judge what the impact of these things is."

Given the fact that Benitez had to sell to buy most of the time, these comments may be interpreted as slightly unfair, and almost illogical. Benitez is seen by a lot of Liverpool fans as an idol, given the fact that he brought home "Ole Big Ears" (The Champions League Trophy), for the fifth time, an occasion which meant that Liverpool would retain the trophy permanently. He also gradually improved their league position and points tally tremendously, with the exception of the 2009-10 season in which he bizarrely lost a lot of ground.

However, it can't all be attributed to Rafael Benitez. There was a top playing squad beneath him, however it seemed that for the majority of last season, there was no 'team'.

Was it really Rafa's fault? Did he lose the dressing room? The only people who know the answers to that question are those still inside the walls of Melwood, as well as the man himself. For most, it's not an issue; the man who brought home number 5 will always be special at Anfield.

Game: Manchester Utd vs Liverpool (Sunday 19th September) (Away)

One of the juiciest fixtures of the season is here. Liverpool travel to Old Trafford, hoping to leave with the bragging rights.

Last Season's Results

March 2009 - Manchester United 1 Liverpool 4
What a day this was as the reds went all out and destroyed the Devils 4-1. The scorers that day were:

Torres 28th minute
Gerrard (pen) 44th minute
Aurelio 77th minute
Dossena 90th minute

Highlights

Manchester United 1-4 Liverpool Highlights 14.03.2009 en Yahoo! Video

It was universally agreed that this was the Stevie and Fernando show with all the action in the midfield up to the front controlled by the terrible two. The team just oozed confidence and control that day, owing to the inspirational Captain and the greatest striker alive, and actually reminded me a little of the brash, swaggering, swashbuckling Liverpool of old.

October 2009 - Liverpool 2 Manchester Utd 0
The Reds couldn't believe their luck as once again they ran out victors at home courtesy of goals from David N'Gog and Fernando Torres.

Highlights

Fast Forward to Now
So, reports around the web are suggesting that Fernando Torres and Wayne Rooney will be the two most dangerous men on the pitch tomorrow. Myself, I can't bring myself to agree with this, owing to the fact that Fernando Torres has a way higher goal-to game ratio than Wayne Rooney. This makes Torres the most dangerous man on the pitch. If he really pulls it together. Recently, Torres has looked less-than-sharp, a shadow of the gloriously gifted player the footballing world knows him to be. But Liverpool fans also need to keep David N'Gog in mind. The young Frenchman has now bagged 6 goals this season, and is really turning out to be a promising prospect.

Bleak Prospects
Can Liverpool really walk away with a win tomorrow? Reports around all the major newspapers suggest that this hinges on one player - Fernando Torres. This could be cited as unfair and completely blown out of proportion when you look at a certain Frenchman's contribution to the club so far this season. Torres just needs a little more time to get his sharpness back and after all Roy Hodgson's priority here is to keep him fit and injury free, a difficult task at the best of times when taking care of the best striker in world football.

Prediction here:

Manchester Utd 2 - 3 Liverpool


YNWA