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TUESDAY 15 |
No shock as Liverpool outclass Luton
Under-pressure Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez saw his side
ease their way into the fourth round of the FA Cup tonight
thanks to a hat-trick from Steven Gerrard.
League one Luton collapsed in this replay at Anfield after
going behind to a late first-half goal from Ryan Babel.
Sami Hyypia was also on the scoresheet to give Benitez some
breathing space after the shock revelation that Jurgen
Klinsmann had been sounded out about the possibility of
becoming the club's next manager.
Benitez selected a strong side, knowing defeat was not an
option after the shock admission from co-owner Tom Hicks.
Jamie Carragher was named captain on his 500th appearance
for the club while Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso
were also in from
the start.
(Evening Echo)
Carra captains Reds v Luton
Jamie Carragher will captain Liverpool as he makes his 500th
appearance for the club in tonight's FA Cup 3rd Round replay
against Luton Town
at Anfield.
Regular skipper Steven Gerrard obviously holds Carra in as
high esteem as the Reds faithful because it was at his
request that Rafa has chosen to mark his landmark night with
this honour.
Rafa Benitez has named a strong Reds line up, with Gerrard
and Alonso in midfield and Peter Crouch partnered with 17
goal Fernando Torres
in attack.
Liverpool: Itandje, Hyypia, Riise, Gerrard, Torres, Alonso,
Crouch, Pennant, Arbeloa, Babel, Carragher.
Subs: Martin, Kewell, Aurelio, Kuyt, Lucas.
(LFC Official Website)
Expert: Benitez could take legal action
Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks’ admission that talks were held
with Jurgen Klinsmann was “not well advised”, according to a
leading employment lawyer who also believes Rafael Benitez
would have a strong claim for constructive dismissal.
There are suggestions Benitez could pursue legal action
against the club after Hicks yesterday confirmed talks were
held with the former Germany coach about the manager’s job
at Anfield.
Benitez would have to resign before taking legal action but
Richard Linskell, employment partner with Dawsons, said the
two parties would be more likely to agree a pay-off rather
than go through the courts – and admitted a lack of
understanding of British employment law could have been
behind Hicks’ startling revelations.
He said: “Certainly I would say it was not well-advised.
“He may well of course have an American approach to
employment law, and in America they have what is called
employment-at-will and they can say what they like and
dismiss people without any repercussions.
(Ireland On-Line)
Houllier ruled out of Newcastle post
Gerard Houllier's boss at the French Football Federation has
said the former Liverpool manager will not become Sam
Allardyce's successor at Newcastle, with Didier Deschamps
now being strongly linked with
the vacant position.
Houllier's representatives were rumoured to have had talks
with Newcastle early this week but FFF chief Jean-Marie
Escallettes claims Houllier gave him his word that he would
not be leaving his current position as
technical director.
(Setanta Sports)
Dalglish: Liverpool should be backing Benitez
Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish today gave his backing to
Reds manager Rafael Benitez as the controversy over his
future at Anfield reached
new levels.
Dalglish insisted Benitez, who has led Liverpool to two
Champions League finals in three seasons, ‘did not deserve
to be hanged’ for letting his frustrations get the better of
him last November.
Dalglish said the backing of the fans in his hour of need
was ‘the least he deserves’.
He said: "When Rafa was flying, winning the Champions
League, you would not need support - you get that
automatically, don’t you?
“But when it’s not going so well, that’s when he really
needs his allies to get round about him, stand beside him
and help him. Because that’s the least he deserves.
(Liverpool Daily Post)
Alan Hansen's blast over Jurgen Klinsmann meeting
Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks' admission that he held talks
with Jurgen Klinsmann can only "undermine" manager Rafael
Benitez.
That is the verdict of former Liverpool star Alan Hansen,
who is at a loss as to why Hicks went public on the
situation.
Hansen said : “I haven’t got a clue why he has come out and
said this.
“Maybe the story was going to come out and he thought he’d
be better off making a statement first.
“Whichever way you look at it, though, these events cannot
do anything but undermine manager Rafael Benitez."
(Liverpool Echo)
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MONDAY 14 |
Carragher defends cup actions
Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has defended his actions
after confronting Luton fans after last week's FA Cup draw
at Kenilworth Road.
Carragher climbed a fence to argue with fans who he claimed
swore and threw beer at him as he left the field.
No action was taken against the 30-year-old after neither
the Football Association nor the police received any
complaints.
Carragher told BBC Radio Five Live: "A few words were said
and someone threw a glass of beer over me, so it wasn't the
end of the world but you react in that split second.
"No-one spat at me - I want to put that straight. I don't
want whoever did it getting more criticism than necessary.
"I just reacted. People from Liverpool have got something
about them and if they're not happy about something they let
people know."
(TEAMtalk)
Luton keeper in fitness race
Luton Town goalkeeper Dean Brill faces a race against time
to line up against Liverpool having picked up an injury
during the 3-1 defeat by Swansea City at the weekend.
With other stoppers Marlon Beresford and Zac Barrett out
injured, Hatters boss Blackwell only has Brill as his
recognised goalkeeper. He picked up the injury during the
warm-up before the Swansea game and didn't take any goal
kicks during the 90 minutes.
Blackwell is also sweating on the fitness of experienced
centre half Chris Perry who picked up an injury during the
Swansea game.
(LFC Official Website)
Carragher to captain Liverpool for his 500th appearance
Jamie Carragher will captain Liverpool on his 500th
appearance for the club in the FA Cup replay against Luton
at Anfield tomorrow.
Carragher will wear the armband following a special request
from regular skipper Steven Gerrard.
Manager Rafael Benitez intends to field a strong side and
could give a debut to £6.5million defender Martin Skrtel.
Provisional squad: Reina, Arbeloa, Finnan, Carragher, Agger,
Hyypia, Riise, Pennant, Gerrard, Alonso, Mascherano, Babel,
Lucas, Voronin, Kuyt, Torres, Crouch, Benayoun, Kewell,
Skrtel, Itandje.
(Liverpool Daily Post)
Agger season in doubt
Daniel Agger could be set to miss the rest of the season
after Rafa Benitez confirmed a recurrence of his metatarsal
injury.
Agger has already missed the past four months, but Liverpool
had been hoping to ease him back into action in a reserve
team game last week.
However, the Denmark international ‘felt something’ in
training, and now Benitez admits Agger will have to start at
the beginning.
“We've had some bad news in that Agger has the same problem
again,” confirmed the Liverpool manager on their official
website.
“He was training and ready to play but yesterday in training
he felt something, so we need to go back and start from the
beginning.
"It's not easy to say when he will be back. He is going to
see different surgeons and then we will be able to analyse
the situation."
Asked if the defender was likely to feature in the next few
weeks, Benitez added: "No, I don't think so."
There is better news at left back though, where Fabio
Aurelio comes back into contention for Tuesday’s FA Cup
replay with Luton.
(Setanta Sports)
Kuyt ready to chip in
Dirk Kuyt is ready to score his fair share of goals.
Fernando Torres has scored seventeen times already this
season while Steven Gerrard has scored twelve. Dirk Kuyt
says he is also ready to chip in with his fair share of
goals.
"We have a lot of quality players in this side and they have
to do more. Fernando and Stevie both have a chance to be
footballer of the year, they've done really good things this
year for Liverpool," said the striker.
"But when you play for Liverpool you know you're under
pressure and they have shown they can come up with the goals
even when they're under pressure.
"That's what we all need to do.
"I'm struggling a bit at the moment, but I feel confident
and I feel things are coming back.
"It's just a matter of time, I hope. I've got a good feeling
that we can do great things for the rest of the season.
"We have the quality and we have to show it but at
Middlesbrough we didn't do it once again.
"It's definitely two points lost. Liverpool have more
quality than Middlesbrough. It's up to us to show it on the
pitch, but we didn't show it in the first half.
"The second half was better and we could even have won it,
but it would have been too much for this game."
(LFC Online)
Hyypia demands Reds resolution
Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia has called on the club to
sort out the persistent rumours regarding Rafael Benitez's
future.
The Spaniard's position at Anfield has been the subject of
speculation since his much-publicised row with American
owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks.
Hyypia is fed up with all the rumours and fears it is
affecting
the whole team.
The Finn has called on the powers that be to resolve the
problem so that the Reds can get their season back on track
"We seem to be becoming like Newcastle," Hyypia told The
Mirror. "Every time we pick up a paper, there seems to be
something new.
"But our job is to concentrate on the games. In the football
world there are some things that happen very quickly and you
can't do anything about them.
"The players hope that if there are arguments, they can be
sorted out."
(ITV Football)
Liverpool held talks with Klinsmann
Liverpool's co-owner Tom Hicks has admitted the club spoke
to Jurgen Klinsmann about the possibility of replacing
Rafael Benitez.
Klinsmann recently agreed to take charge at Bayern Munich
but Hicks has revealed he spoke to the former Tottenham
striker last year at a time when Benitez was linked with
other clubs.
Hicks said: "We attempted to negotiate an option, as an
insurance policy, to have him become manager if Rafa left
for Real Madrid or other clubs that were rumoured in the UK
press."
(Channel 4)
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SUNDAY 13 |
Mourinho camp savages Reds reports
Jose Mourinho’s personal advisor has strongly denied reports
that the former Chelsea manager has contacted Liverpool’s
owners to declare his interest in the Anfield job.
Reports in England had claimed that the charismatic
Portuguese used
a third party to inform George Gillett and Tom Hicks that he
would be interested in taking over from Rafa Benitez should
the Americans look
to dispose of their current manager at the end of the
season.
However, the former Chelsea boss has already been forced to
deny similar reports surrounding his reported interest in
Inter and Milan and his personal advisor Eladio Parames has
now described the link with Liverpool as ‘nonsense’ and
‘stupid’.
“Some media have associated Jose Mourinho’s name with a
number of clubs without, as would be ethical and
deontological, checking whether it was truth,” said Parames
in an official communication.
“This type of disinformation alone for itself would be
already deserving of vehement contradiction and repudiation,
but the affirmation that the owners of the club would have
been contacted by a third party is at
the very least aberrant.
“Jose Mourinho or his agent, Jorge Mendes, have never been
contacted by any club or any owner regarding his services.”
(Setanta Sports)
Juventus cool their interest in Sissoko
Juventus’ interest in Liverpool midfielder Mohamed Sissoko
appears to have cooled after the club revealed they were
unlikely to make any January signings.
Sissoko said on Thursday he was “very close” to joining the
Turin giants while Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez admitted
the Merseysiders were waiting for the “right club and the
right offer” for the 22-year-old.
Juventus president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli said: “Juventus
will not make any acquisitions in the January transfer
market.
“It’s normal to dream of big players but in order for dreams
to come true, we need to wait for the right moment to come
along.”
(Liverpool Daily Post)
Reports: Jose wants liverpool job
Jose Mourinho has reportedly told Liverpool that he wants
Rafa Benitez's job.
The Sunday Mirror claims that the 'former Chelsea boss has
contacted Liverpool's American owners Tom Hicks and George
Gillett through a third party indicating that he would love
to take over at Anfield next season.'
(Football 365)
Boss: I'll pick strongest team
Rafa Benitez plans to select his strongest possible side
when Luton Town travel to Anfield for the FA Cup third round
replay on Tuesday.
The Spaniard this week denied he selected a weakened side at
Kenilworth Road, pointing to the fact he had 10
internationals in the side.
"I was surprised when a journalist questioned me about not
using my strongest team," said Benitez, who was without
Steven Gerrard for
the initial tie due to injury.
"We had 10 international players in the side but the
journalist was just talking about Fernando Torres, so I
think he didn't know exactly about
our squad.
"We will approach the replay with the same idea. I will use
a strong team again because we want to progress in the FA
Cup.
"It is a fantastic competition and we want to win it again."
(LFC Official Website)
Arabs eye £500m Liverpool buy-out
Liverpool FC could change hands for the second time in a
year as their American owners encounter difficulties in
refinancing £350million of debt incurred in taking over and
running the club.
Beset by the steeply rising costs of a new stadium and
manager Rafa Benitez's demands for new players, Tom Hicks
and George Gillett Jr have been attempting to transfer the
debt, for which they are personally liable, on to the club
itself.
City sources believe this is an extremely difficult task to
complete before the loan's due date at the end of February.
It is possible that the Americans will meet the deadline,
but if not an Arab investment group, Dubai International
Capital, is understood to be close to lodging an offer to
buy out the American pair, probably for about £500m.
Takeover discussions are thought to be due before the end of
this month.
(The Observer)
Thor Zakariassen
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