Month: January 2011

We’re posting this on behalf of Red and White Kop (RAWK); it looks like someone went to a lot of trouble to have fun at the expense of the victims of a tragedy.

If you feel you can help RAWK find those responsible please get in touch with them, or contact us and we’ll pass the details onto them.

RAWK Statement on the sickening Hodgson / Hillsborough smear

Some of you may already be aware of a post made by a RAWK user yesterday which sickeningly likened Roy Hodgson to Hillsborough.  There were two attempts to make this post, both were removed immediately by the site staff and the user was banned from the site indefinitely. Despite this screenshots of the offending post soon started appearing all over other fansites, Facebook and Twitter with accompanying opprobrium.  The user involved being traced and having his home address details published along with various threats.

The user has protested his innocence and as a result we have spent a considerable amount of time looking into what happened. We are continuing to investigate but it appears that the offending post put on RAWK in very suspicious circumstances, from IP addresses not normally associated with this users account, these IP addresses have been logged. It seems probable that the user has had his personal details breached by a third party and these were then used by the same third party to make the posts on here.

The post was removed within minutes of it appearing online on RAWK. The opportunity to get a screen grab of the piece was extremely limited, and it’s rapid dispersal through Twitter is both disappointing and unusual. As investigations stand the earliest posting of the screenshots are within an hour of the event taking place when they were posted on Red Cafe at 3.30pm yesterday.  The RAWK moderators are taking this issue very seriously and are working with the user to assist him in his attempts to find out how his account was breached. Given the level of personal abuse and threats that this individual has received, the site will also comply with any requests from the police regarding this issue.

For the sake of the user himself and in order to try and protect all the good work done by members of the various Hillsborough campaign groups we would urge that if you see the ‘Hillsborough’ smear being repeated on Twitter or any other media please forward this message to the offending site or individual.

There is further discussion on this here.  We would be particularly interested in hearing from anyone who has found references to the screenshots or the posts from earlier than 3.30pm yesterday.

As a diversion from the talk of Roy Hodgson’s imminent departure – at least we hope it’s imminent – we’ve got something that we can try and look forward to.

Roy may get sacked, he may resign (although that seems unlikely) or he may go by the usual compromise of “mutual consent”. Deservedly so with the club now just four points about relegation – but he has managed to do what was needed to negotiate the first half of the Europa League season, meaning that there is still hope of some silverware to end the season with. It also represents the club’s best chance of qualifying for Europe next season.

With thanks to Tony at Travelsupermarket.com, here’s our guide to Sparta Prague.

After Roy Hodgson’s Liverpool team finished top of group K in the Europa League, they were drawn against Sparta Prague in the second round, playing them away first on February 17th.

Rather than spending hours looking for cheap flights to Prague and back, below is a list of the flights still available:
Continue reading Europa Cup – Sparta Prague guide

Barclays Premier League – January 5 2011.

Blackburn Rovers v Liverpool

Both sides have had new owners installed since the start of the season – but only one has had a change of manager. Sam Allardyce made way for Steve Kean, a change that wasn’t initially popular with Blackburn fans. Roy Hodgson remains in post, a failure to change that is extremely unpopular with Liverpool fans.

For tonight’s game Paul Konchesky returns to the defence in place of Fabio Aurelio, with Daniel Agger dropped back to the bench, making way for Sotirios Kyrgiakos.

Raul Mereiles left the pitch early through injury against Bolton on Saturday, he’s replaced in the starting line-up by Steven Gerrard, the captain. Dirk Kuyt is also left out, he’s sitting on the bench with the scorer of Saturday’s late winner, Joe Cole, his replacement tonight. Maxi is likely to switch to the right to allow Cole to start on the left.

Liverpool’s other scorer from Saturday, Fernando Torres, also starts tonight but with a big game coming up against Manchester United in the FA Cup 3rd round this weekend it remains to be seen if Hodgson chooses to withdraw him from the action early.

Liverpool need the three points desperately, but with only one away win this season – and Roy Hodgson hardly renowned for getting his sides to win away from home – there may be more disappointment for Reds supporters.
Continue reading Blackburn v LFC – Gerrard, Torres start; Kuyt, Agger subs

Roy Hodgson’s under fire from fans as rumours gather pace that his days are numbered. Some rumours suggest those days are numbered in a way that can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

But as strong as those clams are beginning to sound, we’ve heard similar kinds of stories in the past only for them to prove unfounded or at least premature. And Roy’s presumed scouting visiting to Wigan with Damien Comolli on Sunday suggests he’s got a little while longer yet, even if FSG are known to be actively seeking a replacement and despite fans becoming increasingly vocal about the need for a change.

In the meantime there’s a match to be played this evening, at a club where supporters have strong memories of both current Reds manager Hodgson and someone many Reds fans wanted appointed in his place (and many still do), Reds legend Kenny Dalglish. Blackburn’s supporters will remember Hodgson as the man who set them on their way to relegation, sacked half-way through the season with the club at the bottom of the league. They’ll remember Kenny as the man who gave them their Premier League title, one of four he won as a manager (including three as Liverpool boss).

There’s a danger that Liverpool will arrive at Ewood Park with the sense that the Lancashire side are one in turmoil following the recent sacking of manager Sam Allardyce and much mirth on the back pages about their reported transfer targets. But Liverpool arrived at St James’s Park for their last league game thinking similar kinds of thoughts about their opponents, only to go and lose 3-1.

Allardyce was replaced as manager by Steve Kean, once of Fulham (during Chris Coleman’s reign), and he’ll be intent on proving his appointment is not as temporary as some observers feel it might be.

After a weather-enforced break Liverpool followed that dreadful away defeat to Newcastle with a dreadful home defeat to bottom club Wolves before a 2-1 win home win against Bolton on Saturday. A low turnout at Anfield saw an improved performance from the Reds, but the relationship between supporter and manager was already beyond repair for most.

With the Reds just six points above relegation they really need to win tonight to avoid this season turning into a battle at the wrong end of the table, and for that reason the players know they’ve got the supporters behind them.

Once again we’ve got a preview of the game courtesy of Paddy Power, who are offering a free £20 bet for new customers by using one of the links below.
Continue reading Blackburn v Liverpool – preview

Today our thoughts are with the families, survivors, friends and supporters who remember the loss of 66 football supporters forty years ago this day.

On January 2nd 1971 at an old-firm derby at Ibrox in Glasgow those 66 supporters would lose their lives in a dreadful disaster. 66 fans who would never go home again. 66 innocent lives lost at a football match.

Glasgow Rangers we share your pain. And Glasgow Celtic we’ll never forget how you helped us with ours. We know your tributes today will be fitting.

You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Continue reading In Remembrance of 66

Liverpool supporters often feel their views are misrepresented by the media, especially where their feelings about the current manager are concerned.

It seemed to take an age for them to notice that we’d just about had enough of Mr Hodgson and wanted our club to give him a glowing reference and his severence pay as soon as possible.

They noticed on Wednesday. All of a sudden the words “pressure” and “Roy Hodgson” were heard in the same sentence. Maybe the reference to England woke them up.

Better still, FSG (formerly NESV) also noticed – it was enough for them to let certain reporters know that their hunt for a manager good enough for LFC was already underway, that they too had perhaps had just about enough of Roy.

We won today against Bolton. 2-1.

We even came back from a goal down!
Continue reading Thank you to the BBC

Steven Gerrard is on the bench today after playing the full 90 minutes in midweek in what was his first game after a lengthy injury absence. Manager Roy Hodgson said yesterday that Gerrard was “extremely tired” as a result. Hardly a surprise.

The change means Maxi Rodriguez gets back into the starting line-up, allowing Dirk Kuyt to play on the right and Meireles to move back into his natural central midfield role.

Paul Konchesky was literally laughed off the pitch by a small number of Liverpool supporters against Wolves, he’s not involved at all today with Fabio Aurelio returning to the starting line-up in his place.

Also back today is Daniel Agger, missing recently due to injury, but rumoured to have been offered around a number of German clubs. Hodgson denied the rumours, but following his critical comments about Agger earlier in the season few would be surprised had it turned out to be true.

Developments yesterday however suggest that Hodgson won’t be having a great deal of say in future transfers at Anfield. A number of broadsheets reported that they had been informed by FSG that they intend to replace Roy Hodgson as soon as a suitable candidate is available, during the season if at all possible.

We were asked to write a piece for the Telegraph yesterday on the bond between Liverpool managers and the fans and how Roy fits into this. You can read it here: “Roy Hodgson will never understand the Liverpool fans – we need a manager who can and will“.

One of the managers discussed in that article, Kenny Dalglish, today called for Liverpool fans to all get together and help the team towards that vital three points: “Let’s just press the pause button and throw all our efforts and energies into one basket. Everyone – whether players, supporters, staff or whatever – has to throw everything towards the one aim and that is to get us three badly needed points from the game against Bolton today because if everyone sticks together we’ll have a better chance of getting those three points.”

Kenny went on: “If everybody does their job properly; if everybody sticks together; if the players excite the fans and the fans support the players and everyone is led in one direction, then we should get the result today, but without everybody being on the same page, it will make it a bit more difficult.”

It was very noticeable that his words did not include any sign of backing for the manager, but of course he is correct that supporters need to back the team and do their bit to win that three points. Continue reading Liverpool v Bolton: “Extremely tired” Gerrard on bench