Just a little something that I wanted to share with my fellow Reds.

And let me preface with saying that I fully support Roy and what he’s doing for our club. I am 100% Red and that’s where my loyalty lies.

Nevertheless, I am of the opinion that many are that Rafa Benitez did a lot for this club and we are eternally indebted to him.

OK, here it is:

Being a Texan football fan, I jumped at the opportunity to go see my local team FC Dallas (which I’ve never seen live before) play European champions Inter Milan this past Thursday at the horribly named (but fairly nice) Pizza Hut Park. I was pretty stoked to see Rafa too, thought it would at least be cool to see the man that brought Liverpool its 5th European cup, if from afar in the stands. So I brought a sign to the game that said “Rafa, Thanks for the memories, Thanks for Istanbul, You’ll Never Walk Alone.” It was honestly a pain to carry and I kept thinking how I should just throw it away. But I didn’t, I took it to my seat, set it under and when I got to my seat realized it was too far for him to see and stuff.

The game was good, I enjoyed seeing Eto’o score a neat little goal in front of me, and though it ended 2-2 I had a blast seeing the champions of Europe have a solid game against lowly MLS team FC Dallas.

So then, as we walked out I took my sign, again intending to toss it in the garbage, but I thought I’d take it anyways. We were about to head to the car and then we noticed the team bus and a crowd waiting to come out. So we waited for what seemed like forever and then saw the stars come out- Cesar, Balotelli, Milito, Materazzi, etc. Then Rafa came out, went quickly to the bus after signing an autograph. Downtrodden again, I just told my mate we should just go. So we started to go but then I stopped and wondered maybe Rafa hadn’t gotten to his seat yet, so I went round to the front of the bus. I looked into the bus and saw him, Rafa was seated behind the driver, talking to someone. So then I held up my sign, in clear view of the front of the bus. I saw Rafa stop his conversation and look towards me, clearly concentrating and reading. Then he stopped, smiled, waved a hand to me and then gave me a thumbs up. Needless to say, I FREAKED out and waved and gave him a thumbs up. Then, of course, I jumped around like a maniac and told my mate (unfortunately a Chelski fan) about it, and he thought it was cool but I was flying and couldn’t stop talking and thinking about it.

He may not be our manager and he may have needed to leave, but he left our club as one of the greats, and his actions surrounding his dismissal show that he is a completely class act. I am so proud to have shown my and hopefully all of our appreciation toward him, and I hope that he felt that appreciation from us. I’m still flying, three days later.

YNWA Rafa

Via Tupperwarez

August

14 – Arsenal (h)
21 – Manchester City (a)
28 – West Bromwich Albion (h)

September

11 – Birmingham City (a)
18 – Manchester United (a)
22 – Carling Cup 3
25 – Sunderland (h)

October

2 – Blackpool (h)
16 – Everton (a)
23 – Blackburn Rovers (h)
27 - Carling Cup 4
30 – Bolton Wanderers (a)

November

6 – Chelsea (h)
9 – Wigan Athletic (a)
13 – Stoke City (a)
20 – West Ham United (h)
27 – Tottenham Hotspur (a)

December

1 – Carling Cup 5
4 – Aston Villa (h)
11 – Newcastle United (a)
18 – Fulham (h)
26 – Blackpool (a)
28 – Wolverhampton Wanderers (h)

January

1 – Bolton Wanderers (h)
5 – Blackburn Rovers (a)
8 – FA Cup 3
12 – Carling Cup SF1
15 – Everton (h)
22 – Wolverhampton Wanderers (a)
26 – Carling Cup SF2
29 – FA Cup 4

February

2 – Stoke City (h)
5 – Chelsea (a)
12 – Wigan Athletic (h)
19 – FA Cup 5
26 – West Ham United (a)
27 – Carling Cup final

March

5 – Manchester United (h)
12 – FA Cup 6
19 – Sunderland (a)

April

2 – West Bromwich Albion (a)
9 – Manchester City (h)
16 – Arsenal (a) (FA Cup SF weekend)
23 – Birmingham City (h)
30 – Newcastle United (h)

May

7 – Fulham (a)
14 – Tottenham Hotspur (h) (FA Cup final weekend – dates and kick-off subject to change)
22 – Aston Villa (a)

ALL FIXTURES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE FOR THE REQUIREMENTS OF TELEVISION AND/OR FOR OTHER REASONS SUCH AS POLICE REQUESTS AND UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE COMMITMENTS.

For the latest fixture updates checkout LiverpoolFC.tv’s Fixture & Results page.

All of Liverpool’s first teamers (12 in all) will be at the World Cup, representing 7 different nations.

England: Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson and Jamie Carragher
Argentina: Javier Mascherano and Maxi Rodriguez
Netherlands: Ryan Babel and Dirk Kuyt
Spain: Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina
Greece: Sotiros Kyrgiakos
Denmark: Daniel Agger
Slovakia: Martin Skrtel

Via Red & White Kop

Barely 15 months into his new contract, Rafael Benitez has ended his tumultuous 6-year managerial career at Anfield. The official website at LiverpoolFC.tv has released a statement confirming the news.

According to Rafael Benitez:

It is very sad for me to announce that I will no longer be manager of Liverpool FC. I would like to thank all of the staff and players for their efforts.

I’ll always keep in my heart the good times I’ve had here, the strong and loyal support of the fans in the tough times and the love from Liverpool. I have no words to thank you enough for all these years and I am very proud to say that I was your manager.

Thank you so much once more and always remember: You’ll never walk alone.

–

MyRAWK would like to thank Rafa for all the great memories in leading the club to its 5th Champions League triumph, another final two years later, the thrilling FA Cup victory over West Ham and who can forget – the satisfying double over the Mancs, which included a 4-1 drubbing at Old Trafford.

It would have been interesting to see what the gaffer could have achieved with some added funds to build up the team last season, following the close call to winning the Premiership in 08/09.

Unfortunately, all the boardroom bickering and empty promises from the owners have contributed to nothing but a disastrous environment for a top club to operate in, for both players and manager, culminating in the events today.

It is indeed a dark chapter in the history of Liverpool FC, but as the song says – hold your head up high, and don’t be afraid of the dark.

Hicks & Gillett - Liars Out!

It doesn’t take a hardcore Red to agree that “fooked up” is a bit of an understatement to describe the state of Liverpool FC under the two American owners, Hicks & Gillett.

Early promises of building a new stadium not only failed to materialize, but the club is now being burdened with a staggering debt of over £350million to finance the takeover, not counting interest repayments that are bleeding the club dry.

The Spirit of Shankly describes it best:

The club is in the midst of its worst crisis in history. We are not against the current owners because they want to make money from the club, or because they are American, or even because they have no understanding or concept of our history and traditions. We are against them because they cannot afford to take this club forward in terms of competing with the other top clubs in player signings, they cannot afford the new stadium and are not shy about telling lie after lie to attempt to hide these blatantly obvious facts; and yes, they have persistently undermined the manager, engaged in embarassing public slanging matches and dragged the name of our club through the mud.

So what can we, to call ourselves Liverpool fans, do?

We have two options.

Option one – we stand by, watch, and do nothing. This will eventually result in our club ceasing to exist. You may think this sounds exaggerated, but it is the truth.

Option two – we fight back. We do something about it, and we do something NOW. We do anything and everything that we can to force those two out of our club, and help to secure it’s future.

So what can you do? There are many things…

1. Firstly, invite every single Liverpool fan you know to Help Save Liverpool FC, and urge them to do the same. Many fans are still unaware of, or choose to ignore, our current plight, and they may only get the picture if they woke up one day and our club no longer existed. We can change that. Get people to join this group, so they can be educated on the problems within the club, and join the cause to cure those problems.

2. Have a look at the group’s photos section. Spread these images however you can – set them as your profile picture if you wish, click “Share” to post them to your wall, post them on Twitter, link them in emails, anything. Spread the word, get the message out there.

3. If you are not already a member, join the Spirit of Shankly, the Liverpool FC Supporters Union. SOS is one of the only organisations which is taking our club’s future into consideration and attempting to change it for the better, by trying to force Hicks and Gillett out of our club. Join them, it is £10 to save the future of Liverpool FC.

You can also become a fan of Spirit of Shankly on Facebook.

4. If you ever hear any Liverpool fans saying that the owners are not a problem, or that “everything will be fine”, or something similar, tell them the truth – without action being taken, everything will be far from ‘fine’.

Gone But Never Forgotten. Justice For The 96.

Carl Brown (18)                Brian Christopher Mathews (38)
David Steven Brown (25)            Francis Joseph McAllister (27)
Henry Thomas Burke (47)            John McBrien (18)
Peter Andrew Burkett (24)        Marion Hazel McCabe (21)
Paul William Carlile (19)        Joseph Daniel McCarthy (21)
Raymond Thomas Chapman (50)        Peter McDonnell (21)
Gary Christopher Church (19)        Alan McGlone (28)
Joseph Clark (29)            Keith McGrath (17)
Paul Clark (18)                Paul Brian Murray (14)
Gary Collins (22)            Lee Nicol (14)
Stephen Paul Copoc (20)            Stephen Francis O’Neill (17)
Tracey Elizabeth Cox (23)        Jonathon Owens (18)
James Philip Delaney (19)        William Roy Pemberton (23)
Christopher Barry Devonside (18)    Carl William Rimmer (21)
Christopher Edwards (29)        David George Rimmer (38)
Vincent Michael Fitzsimmons (34)    Graham John Roberts (24)
Thomas Steven Fox (21)            Steven Joseph Robinson (17)
Jon-Paul Gilhooley (10)            Henry Charles Rogers (17)
Barry Glover (27)            Colin Andrew Hugh William Sefton (23)
Ian Thomas Glover (20)            Inger Shah (38)
Derrick George Godwin (24)        Paula Ann Smith (26)
Roy Harry Hamilton (34)            Adam Edward Spearritt (14)
Philip Hammond (14)            Philip John Steele (15)
Eric Hankin (33)            David Leonard Thomas (23)
Gary Harrison (27)            Patrik John Thompson (35)
Stephen Francis Harrison (31)        Peter Reuben Thompson (30)
Peter Andrew Harrison (15)        Stuart Paul William Thompson (17)
David Hawley (39)            Peter Francis Tootle (21)
James Robert Hennessy (29)        Christopher James Traynor (26)
Paul Anthony Hewitson (26)        Martin Kevin Traynor (16)
Carl Darren Hewitt (17)            Kevin Tyrrell (15)
Nicholas Michael Hewitt (16)        Colin Wafer (19)
Sarah Louise Hicks (19)            Ian David Whelan (19)
Victoria Jane Hicks (15)        Martin Kenneth Wild (29)
Gordon Rodney Horn (20)            Kevin Daniel Williams (15)
Arthur Horrocks (41)            Graham John Wright (17)

The Kop showing how they feel on the ownership crisis!

Finally the Anfield circus with the 2 Yanks has an ending in sight. Royal Bank of Scotland has put its foot down and demanded them to appoint a new chairman to helm the club and relinquish their ownership . These recommendations and conditions have to be met before an extension to the loan can be approved.

The slightly disturbing news is that the candidate to take over the chairman position is a life-long Chelsea fan – Martin Broughton. That being said, he has a proven track record as the head honcho at British Airways.  If the appointment goes ahead as expected, he will resign his post at BA and sit on top of the board instead of the 2 co-chairmen.

This latest development is good news to the long suffering and disillusioned Reds. The road to recovery is still a long and hard one with huge obstacles to over come. Irregardless, the biggest onee has been remove and let’s hope RBS / Barclays will find a suitable and appropriate buyer for our beloved club. The club deserves nothing but the best.

Personally speaking, who ever that takes over the club and the new chairman will be ill advised to remove Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre from the board. The two of them are the sole reason we’re still standing. They have worked tirelessly to help us rebuild the sponsorship and commercial aspects of the club. They are big assets to the future direction of Liverpool FC.

Looks like “the family silver” will be changing hands again no thanks to the short-sightedness of David Moores and the daftness of Rick “Crusty the Clown” Parry. Money talks and bullshits walk – how true!

-JonC-

Pepe - staying for the next 6 years! A future Captain.

Reina signs new deal

Pepe Reina has put pen to paper on a new six-year deal at Anfield, Liverpool Football Club can today confirm.

The 27-year-old, who has been one of the Reds’ star performers this season, has followed in the footsteps of senior stars like Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Daniel Agger and Dirk Kuyt by committing his long-term future to the club.

Reina told Liverpoolfc.tv: “I’m delighted to sign a new contract. It’s probably the best news of my life that I’ll be here for the next six years. Me and my family are really happy here.

“To play for Liverpool is very special. I’ve been here for five years and now I will be here for six more and it’s very exciting.

“It’s very important that my family love it here as well, as family life is just as important as my career.

“My wife told me from the beginning she was more than happy here. My kids enjoy it and they have picked up the scouse accent already. I am really proud of that.

“In the years ahead they will speak much more scouse too.”

** Taken from  liverpoolfc.tv

The all-new home kit for Liverpool FC was unveiled earlier today, featuring new main sponsor Standard Chartered. According to the press release:

The adidas strip represents a modern interpretation of the one worn during the triumphant 1989-90 campaign, in which the Reds won title number 18.

Source: www.liverpoolfc.tv/shop/kit