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.

Liverpool Takeover Latest

Christian Purslow has gone some way to reassuring Liverpool fans worldwide, that the takeover process is still underway. In an exclusive interview given to the club's own TV channel (LFC TV), he stated that there were still a small number of parties carrying out due diligence.

He also answered many other probing questions, sent in by fans, the best of which were chosen and presented to him. Perhaps the most pressing question though was whether Tom Hicks was actively seeking to refinance his loan to RBS once again, the repayment of which is due in 2 weeks time.

Purslow moved swiftly to reassure fans that the rest of the Liverpool board were opposed to such an action where it involved borrowing against the club's assets such as the players or grounds. This should come as great relief to most of the fans who are already seeing their beloved club being dragged around through one saga after another.

Another question was why Rafael Benitez, the clubs former coach had been sacked. Again Purslow had a very swift response stating that it was a parting of the ways, and that nothing could be more cut and dry in his eyes.

Let's hope then, that this 'parting of the ways' as he called it does not prove to be one more nail in Liverpool's coffin.

To see the interview in detail for free, follow this link: Christian Purslow's Interview

Breaking News - Tom Hicks Sighted At Deutsche Bank New York

A New York Liverpool fan has Tweeted the news that Tom Hicks has been sighted going to Deutsche Bank in New York.

The news has already caused a flurry of activity around the web with supporters groups already planning the next email campaign.

This could be bad news for Liverpool Supporters everywhere as Tom Hicks continues the grim fight to retain control and possession of Liverpool Football Club, the most successful club in British football.

However, the news may not be all bad. With Hicks' growing list of enemies, and his poor performance in obtaining credit recently, he may find that fewer and fewer banks or credit institutions are willing to take him seriously.

One can only hope.

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/