The news that Kenny Dalglish may return, in some capacity, to Liverpool is almost too good to be true. Quite simply, the timing could not be better. Dalglish’s presence may have undermined previous managers, but Rafa Benítez now has the strength of position to have someone like the legendary no.7 onboard without it causing an [...]
To score four goals, and still be in with a shout with five minutes remaining of an 180-minute tie – that looked over after 90 – was an incredible effort by the Reds. It did the club proud on the eve of such a significant anniversary. I was all set for a brave display but [...]
Sent to official Liverpool site, but put up here as well in the meantime. A lot of what I write is based on the premise that there are always at least two ways to look at pretty much everything in football. Very few things in the game are clear-cut. Pros and cons exist with almost [...]
An interview I did for the Bleacher Report, answering questions on various aspects of the season so far: Interview here Thoughts on the Fulham game will appear on .tv this week, hopefully tomorrow. www.paultomkins.com – support my writing by buying my books. Click here to Pre-order Red Race. Compendium and Red Race available only from [...]
It wouldn’t be UEFA if they weren’t having a pop at the top English clubs. Ever since the top sides became Europe’s elite, it seems that they are scrabbling to rewrite the rule book. Now, with UEFA sticking their mighty oars in once more, Liverpool are being criticised for having a squad of “62 professionals”. [...]
Thankfully, most media outlets seem to have seen the massive inaccuracy in Alex Ferguson’s figures relating to Liverpool’s spending. That he should even choose to come out with such figures in the first place is interesting, given his rather undignified reaction to Rafa’s ‘fact’ press conference a couple of months back. I’m also still smiling [...]
Rafa Benítez had his latest press conference interrupted by a "guerilla journalist" (i.e., a wanker) pressing him on why he persists with Lucas Leiva. I’ll admit to being disappointed with how the Brazilian has performed this season; I expected more, and he's had a few stinkers. But he is a full international and the Brazilian [...]
This is designed as an accompaniment piece to my latest article for the LFC website, which I've submitted today. The explanations of the figures are in that article. (I've updated the figures to include most of the well-known home-grown players from all teams, and added Zoran Tosic to United's figures; the Guardian said he and [...]
So why has it all gone wrong in the Premiership, after the best start in donkey’s years? I’ve tried to think of all the reasons I see as valid. Some fans will see a number of these as excuses, but for me it’s the context: the extenuating circumstances, the unique difficulties, and in some cases, [...]
Piece submitted to .tv 23.2.09, but wanted to use it here too, just in case it's not seen as appropriate. I want to pose what I hope is an interesting philosophical question. It involves something bordering on a parallel universe, but only in the loose sense; I’m obviously no astrophysicist (although I did once nearly [...]
