There is a growing section of Liverpool fans who believe that sacking Rafa Benitez is the way forward at the moment. I disagree, and this is why I believe there is no real possibility that this is going to happen.

Before Rafa's future can even realistically be called into question at least two of the following three things need to happen.

Losing the backing of his players

One thing that was abundantly clear to me in the Lyon game was that 11 men went out there to give there all for the club and their manager. Even those who...

Jamie Carragher has told former Anfield team-mate Michael Owen that the fans that once adored him will not welcome him back to the club now that he has joined the Manc scum.

“Our fans are usually brilliant with former players but he might get a cool reception,” Carragher said.

“I can understand the fans’ point of view. He used to play for us and now he is at our big rivals. At the same time, Michael has got his own career to think about. He wants to play in the Champions League and get back into the World Cup squad. The move gives him that opportunity.

“It will...

Football is a subjective issue, but let’s concentrate on some facts:

1 Alex Ferguson’s first five seasons, after inheriting a team which had just finished 4th, were as follows: 11th, 2nd, 11th, 13th, 6th. Rafa Benítez also inherited a team that had finished 4th, albeit a whopping 30 points behind the Champions (compared with the United of ’86, who were just 12 points behind Dalglish’s champions), but subsequently finished 5th, 3rd and 3rd. (In Ferguson’s defence, that first 11th-place finish came after he took charge in November 1986, roughly a third of the way into...

Two goals from Stevan Jovetic have Liverpool at sixes and sevens leading up to the break. This whole thing about one shot on goal doesn’t seem to be working.

Free header from a corner for Lucas in the 47th minute is a bit tall…going to need a lot more if Liverpool are going to even contest here.

Dirk Kuyt with an effort from the right edge of the box, well saved. Not the best of chances, but anything on goal is a welcome sight.

Over on the Fiorentina Offside there’s plenty of discussion about the match, including one of the more patronizing comments I’ve read that...

Only 18 more rounds to go until the Carling Cup final!

After glancing at Liverpool’s starting eleven, there was no mistake that Rafa viewed this year’s Carling Cup the same as he has every other year…despite declarations otherwise. Not to say this side wasn’t talented enough to win, but as has become the case with the bastard son of top-flight cup competitions, it was clear that the Carling Cup will yet again provide an opportunity for Liverpool’s also-rans and reserve stars. Which isn’t entirely negative. A mixture of first team talent in familiar places: Jamie Carragher, Javier Mascherano;...

What a difference a win makes. I was a little worried about our trip to Bolton on Saturday given our current run of luck, but the team responded very well to our set-back against Villa and in the end we well deserved the three points. Sure it was a bit messy and as ever we made hard work of it, but in terms of our season I think that victory was critical and might well prove to be a turning point.

Losing two of our first three games was bad enough and caused many of our more fragile “loyal supporters” to prematurely press the nuclear button but had we lost or even drawn at Bolton ahead...

Well it’s been a poor start to the season for us but today’s Champions League draw has brightened my mood. Being drawn in Group E to play Lyon, Fiorentina and Debreceni isn’t exactly easy but all things considered it could have been much worse so I’m happy enough with our draw and I’d be confident that we can top our group.

We could certainly do with some cheering up at the moment. Our start to the campaign has been bad enough but the response to it by some of our whining, tantrum-throwing “supporters” has been even more depressing. I’ve been reading some of the childish crap these...

I had hoped that by now we would be a lot clearer on the future of Xabi Alonso but things are still about as clear as mud and the whole situation still has me as confused as a hungry baby in a topless bar! Quite frankly I have become very tired with reading and writing about it and at this stage, regardless of the outcome, I just want to see an end to it and all of our focus to be totally on the season ahead.

I’m not sure where Alonso’s heart and mind is at the moment but I’m a little disappointed that he has avoided nailing his colours to the wall so far and chosen instead to keep...

It seems that Real Madrid aren’t going to go away. They think that Xabi Alonso is uniquely talented, but they aren’t prepared to pay what he’s worth.


It’s a little ‘rich’ to suggest the price is too high when you’ve just spent £170m on four players.


Perhaps as fans we can’t be too critical of the ultimate vulturine club, as it circles voraciously overhead, given that it’s a similar situation to the Reds’ pursuit of Gareth Barry last year – although Liverpool are never as brutal or cocky in their pursuit of their targets, and don’t plant stories in the media to...