Kenny Dalglish has officially been handed the keys to the LFC managers office, on a permanent basis. King Kenny has signed a three-year contract it was announced this week, about blooming time. The job Kenny and his backroom staff have done since taking the reins in January has been remarkable, transforming an underperforming squad to… [Read more…]
May 3, 2011 by marksmith81
Monday night saw Simone Jackson score the winning goal for Norwich which sent them back to the top flight. The canaries have guaranteed their place in next seasons Premier League, alongside Champions QPR. It’s great to see these two sides back amongst England’s elite. It brings back memories of watching football as youngster, seeing Liverpool… [Read more…]
April 9, 2011 by marksmith81
This week saw an unlikely partnership emerge with NBA icon LeBron James acquiring a stake in Liverpool FC. On the surface of the deal it looks like LFC owners (Fenway Sports Group) have given LeBron a piece of Liverpool in return for representing the NBA star, which has angered many Liverpool fans. Why should LeBron… [Read more…]
April 1, 2011 by marksmith81
Gerard Houllier may be public enemy number one with the Villa fans, but the club must stick with the Frenchman. Understandably the fans will be frustrated with Villa’s season, especially with the recent 1-0 home defeat to neighbours Wolves. But Houllier couldn’t have picked a tougher time to take over the manager’s job at Villa. He… [Read more…]
March 18, 2011 by marksmith81
Liverpool limped out of the Europa League with a whimper last night. Struggling to break down an organized side in Sporting Braga proved their downfall. In 360 minutes of knock-out football, Liverpool only managed 1 goal – against Sparta Prague. When the draw was made for the knockout ties, Liverpool couldn’t have asked for a… [Read more…]
March 3, 2011 by marksmith81
The Premier League season so far has been remarkably unpredictable. With 10 games to go, only 6 points separate 10th to 20th place in the league. You would be hard pushed to predict the relegated trio come May. West Ham who have looked woeful all season are finally starting to play, smashing 5 past Burnley in the… [Read more…]
February 19, 2011 by marksmith81
Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool side travelled to the Czech Republic to take on Sparta Prague, for their first time in their history. Infact, Liverpool have only met Czech opposition once before, beating Slovan Liberec 4-2 on aggregate, this was on route to winning the UEFA Cup in 2001 – a lucky omen for Liverpool perhaps? Not… [Read more…]
February 6, 2011 by marksmith81
Tomas Rosicky and Petr Cech had absolute stinkers this weekend. The Arsenal midfielder probably thought he wouldn’t see much action on Saturday, named on the bench, but was introduced on 70 minutes. Arsenal were still leading 4-1 at the time at St James Park. A few minutes after coming on Tomas gave away possession in his own… [Read more…]
February 4, 2011 by marksmith81
The current defending Gambrinus Liga champions, Sparta Prague, had a very strong finish to the first half of the season as they sealed qualification to UEFA Europa League knockout stages. Domestically, they finished like a steam train too, by rattling off 5 wins in a row, reducing Plzens lead at the top of the league… [Read more…]
February 1, 2011 by marksmith81
Does this mean that the recession is finally over? No, of course it doesn’t. To coin a phrase from Richard Keys “The game has gone mad!”. We all knew that Fernando Torres was on his way to Chelsea, it was a case of how much? £50m seemed the asking price, so Chelsea duly obliged. As a… [Read more…]
January 28, 2011 by marksmith81
The marquee signing of Luis Suarez should be making me smile, yet being a fan of Liverpool FC is never straight forward. News had surfaced early this morning, that Liverpool had rebuffed Chelsea’s offer of £35m for Fernando Torres. On hearing that, I just shrugged it off.. “Ah, Torres isn’t leaving, we have new owners,… [Read more…]
January 19, 2011 by marksmith81
Premier League teams are now starting to throw money around like confetti at a wedding. As teams look to push on in the quest for glory, or, in West Ham’s case – save themselves from self destruction. But make no mistake, the transfer window is now well and truly open. Edin Dzeko was the first… [Read more…]
January 15, 2011 by marksmith81
Tomorrow sees Liverpool host Everton, in what should be an explosive Merseyside Derby, which is of course the biggest Derby in the world! I once heard a scouser say “There are only 3 important Derbies in the world.. The Merseyside Derby, The Epsom Derby and Terence Trent D’Arby”. Much has been made of Kenny Dalglish’s… [Read more…]
January 12, 2011 by marksmith81
Arsenal are looking to end their 5 year trophy drought, with victory in the League Cup. Heavy favourites in their semi-final against Ipswich – who are fresh from a 7-0 hiding at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal should meet either West Ham or Birmingham in the Final. Arsene Wenger has taken this competition seriously this year, and after the… [Read more…]
January 9, 2011 by marksmith81
The inevitable finally happened, and Roy Hodgson was dismissed of his duties at Anfield. The 3-1 hammering at Blackburn proved too much, the final straw for NESV. Kenny Dalglish has been appointed interim boss until the end of the season, a steering job until the summer. In the short term, it should improve results as… [Read more…]
December 31, 2010 by marksmith81
Its been a busy time this last couple of weeks, I was back in the UK for Christmas, catching up with family and friends but today I have had time to sit back reflect over the 10 days. Here are 3 things I have learnt over the festive period. 1. England cannot handle the snow… [Read more…]
December 22, 2010 by marksmith81
This week’s rumour mill has been going crazy, Rafa Benitez has been in and out at Inter more times than the hokey cokey. It’s still unclear if he is manager at Inter or not? No confirmed reports yet from Inter, but the general consensus is, that Rafa has gone. This has created alot of heated debate on… [Read more…]
November 24, 2010 by marksmith81
Christmas is approaching and this can mean only one thing. Yes, the January transfer window will soon be upon us. Harry Redknapp will have one hand on a Christmas cracker and the other holding a mobile to his ear, frantically trying to buy another midfielder for his Spurs side. It’s a well-known fact that the… [Read more…]
November 9, 2010 by marksmith81
Midweek sees a full Premier League fixture list, the stand-out game (apart from Wigan v Liverpool ) is the Manchester derby. Never has the derby match taken on such significance, usually it would be Manchester United heavy favourties but everything for tomorrows game points to a City win. Mancini’s City have performed well in the… [Read more…]
November 7, 2010 by marksmith81
Liverpool took on Chelsea on the obligatory Sky Sports Super Sunday. The game before saw a shock in Arsenal rolling over for Newcastle to tickle their bellies and snatch a one nil win at the Emirates, a shock if ever I saw one. Maybe it was going to be a day of shocks? Liverpool were… [Read more…]
May 13, 2011 by marksmith81
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