The Soccer Blog: Wednesday

Showing posts with label Wednesday. Show all posts

Wednesday, 30 March 2011

The Hodgpocalypse Grows Near, and Other Wednesday Notes

By: Noel | March 30th, 2011
Tweet

Mornings and salutations, Liverpool Offside, I’m back. Did you miss me? Not really?

Oh. Well.

To be perfectly honest, I’m a little hurt by that. I mean, when you go away for a couple of days you at least expect people to miss you a little bit. You think maybe they’ll start a Youtube channel dedicated to shaky-voiced shaky-cam demands for your return. Or they could start an online petition. Maybe put together a PayPal fundraising drive, or even threaten to burn down the head offices of The Offside and SBNation if you don’t return.

Honestly, with thirty-five weeks of blogging experience, you’d like to think you’ve aquired some level of base competence. You’d like to think you’ve developed some minimum ability to entertain and inform from your time spent writing blogs like Gilmore Girls As Cats and WAGStalker, and that it would translate. In fact, it’s downright insulting to think those thirty-five weeks of experience wouldn’t.

I hardly think it would just disappear overnight, which leaves me feeling more than a little like Roy Hodgson. Which reminds me…

* I’m sure we’ll partake in our share of Hodgsonosity over the next few days, which some will love and others hate, but for the time being it’s down to the at times rabidly anti-Liverpool UK Fanhouse to fire the first shots of “Holy shit Roy Hodgson is going to manage his new club against the club he bombed out of in fiery explosive failure with the fans clamoring for his head” week:

Hodgson has also claimed that he feels more appreciated by the Albion hierarchy, a clear dig at John W Henry, the Liverpool owner who ended his excruciating spell without a flicker of emotion in the New Year.

Maybe he feels more appreciated because the expectations are so much lower. Failure to secure Liverpool a place in the top six would have been a unmitigated disaster, while finishing 17th with West Brom would earn him the freedom of Sandwell.

I’m not sure what’s more surprising, that Hodgson has taken shots at John Henry and FSG that I managed to somehow miss, or that Fanhouse is running an article that doesn’t blame every ill known to mankind on Liverpool. One thing that is certain is that it signals the start of what should be an interesting few days of bluster and unavoidable media coverage.

* Wrapping up the international action, everybody appears to have come back healthy, which when you get right down to it is really all that matters. However, beyond that obvious goodness, Dirk Kuyt went right on showing people that he can score for both club and country, netting a brace in the Netherlands’ return match against Hungary after scoring a single marker on Friday. Meanwhile, Andy Carroll scored his first goal since joining Liverpool, even if it wasn’t in a Liverpool shirt. Regardless, it isn’t that often that an international break can be termed an unqualified success, but with all of Liverpool’s participants coming back uninjured, and with Carroll getting to run around for sixty odd minutes while also finding the back of the goal as he works his way back to full fitness, it’s hard to find any negatives in the just finished break from league play.

* And speaking of injuries, Nate of OYB is on an infographic kick of late, which means the rest of us get to stare at pretty shiny pictures outlining Liverpool’s injuries this season and their European road-trips over the past decade. Charts and graphs and all the rest are always worth your time, but the long and the short of it would seem to be that February was a horrible month for Liverpool players getting injured, Steven Gerrard has groin issues, and Liverpool has a fondness for spending time in Bucharest. With that last part presumably not having anything to do with Gerrard’s groin issues. Probably.

In the meantime, while you consider the coming Hodgpocalypse, the immanent return of Tea and Crumpets with a special guest star, and that there’s a quite decent chance we all only exist to be replaced…

Some Related Liverpool Posts:Ian Ayre Gets Promoted, Injury Updates, and Other Wednesday NotesHillsborough Breakthroughs, Thanking Hodgson, and Other Wednesday NotesFake Plastic Chelseas, Raheem Sterling Makes Europa Squad, and Other Wednesday NotesThis Is Not and Other Wednesday Notes, and Other Wednesday NotesAndy Carroll, Defensive Pairings, and Other Wednesday Notes

Category: International Duty, Premier League, Team News

Tags: Andy Carroll, Dirk Kuyt, Dirk Kuyt can score, Furious Masturbation, Hodgpocalypse, I'm Having Liver Pains, International Duty, John Henry, Links!, Premier League, Roy Hodgson, Steven Gerrard, Team News, West Bromwich Albion
Tweet « The Final Countdown and Other Tuesday Notes | Home | Live4LeivaHey Lucas penned a new deal. I had read some fluff recently about him being dealt to Genoa for 3m to fund the Adam deal.

That would be one of the poorest pieces of business. It would send the message to all players "Perform well and commit your loyalty to LFC, and we will happily offload you in the summer."RedDownUndaWelcome back, I missed you Noel.

No offence Ed, but the fact you've dropped the term 'fucknuttery' of late, and as your meanderings tend to make absolute sense, I have to confess I was missing my weekly dose of Noelocity.

And talking of weirdness - I just watched Australia beat Germany 2 - 1. Now that's a Noel-ish moment. Weird, wonderful, strangely compelling, but somehow a bit disturbing - I think they actually deserved to win. And then, courtesy of the above post, I just watched Carrol finally score and Kuyt pop a brace. Add to that The Bombers thrashing the Bulldogs on the weekend (Australians rejoice) and things are really looking up Down Under.

Now if we could just keep this ball rolling over on Merseyside....EdBastard.RoscoIt was nice to see you complete back-to-back midweek posts for the first time in a while ed, back to assuming your "aurelio of the blogging world" role now?EdI was hoping more for an Owen Hargreaves type niche--don't do anything for a long time, still have good word of mouth, talk about doing more at some point, then continue to not do anything.NoelWell, you rather went and ruined that by actually going and doing some midweek stuff then. Which was certainly enjoyed on this end, too, and might make that Hargreaves niche a little more difficult to take on.RoscoIt is a fine craft.redtrev73Many of those 35 weeks may have been spent on lesser scandanavian blogs and your League Bloggers Association award may be a little incongruous AND the high-profile friendship with a hated rival super-blogger does rather stick in the craw, but you are welcome back sir!!

On a vaguely serious note, am i the only one round here dreading the possibility of a baggie victory to mark the Hodgepocalypse?! I think it might be more than my already-damaged mind could stand if we had to endure any self-righteous crowing out of royston....Here's hoping that we can field DAgger, Andy, Suarez and Stevie....NoelI don't think it's the most likely thing to happen, but still, the possibility of such an outcome is rather terrifying.RoscoLittle conflict of interest to mull over.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/ms/p/g...Guthmate35 weeks of experience... lolblog comments powered by Disqus

Harry Redknapp, England manager? (Awful writing) Is It Too Early to Get Excited About Sturridge? Denmark 1 - 2 England (Via Hamlet) more news...

Search The Offside

Wednesday, 23 March 2011

Ian Ayre Gets Promoted, Injury Updates, and Other Wednesday Notes

By: Noel | March 23rd, 2011
Tweet

We’re almost half-way to the monumental, must-watch match between England and Wales that is Saturday’s Euros 2012 qualifier. So, can anybody else feel that excitement? No? Well, I guess it might have just been something I ate acting up…

* Liverpool’s four long term injuries might get sorted out by the end of the international break, with it sounding as though Steve Clarke expects Steven Gerrard, Martin Kelly, and Jonjo Shelvey to return to training next week, with Fabio Aurelio’s immanent return sounding less likely put still possible:

They’re all improving. Fingers crossed, we will have Martin Kelly and Steven Gerrard back training by the middle of next week. We hope the same for Jonjo Shelvey, who has been out for a long time. Fabio Aurelio is also making good progress. They’re our four longer-term injuries, the ones that have been causing us a bit of concern recently, but hopefully they’ll all join in training next week.

And have I mentioned how much I love international breaks lately? Well, I do. For now. Until the matches actually start and there’s the potential for something bad to happen to any number of included and currently healthy Liverpool players. In the meantime, it’s nice to have that extra week for injured players to work back towards fitness without quite the same level of rush and urgency.

* Meanwhile there’s big news from the backroom, as Ian Ayre was named the new managing director and Damien Comolli promoted to Director of Football. Said John Henry on Ayre’s promotion:

We conducted an extensive recruitment search and met with outstanding candidates who sought this role but in the end, after having worked with Ian and other top executives within the club, we realised that Ian had all of the attributes necessary to lead the Club forward. Ian has been doing an outstanding job driving commercial revenues and has a proven track record in successfully leading and developing businesses in a number of different regions and sectors of importance to Liverpool FC…

But importantly, Ian is also from Liverpool and understands the relationships between the Club, the supporters and the city. He will play a key role in all of our future plans.

Even with Ayre being quite possibly the one big name to transition from the old regime to the new without any reservations on the part of the fans, that he’s stepping into Christian Purslow’s old job when the former managing director was himself so often billed as a lifelong fan can’t help but cause a rueful chuckle or two. At least in Ayre’s case he has a good deal of experience with the club to suggest he’s up to the job and is very likely the right sort of lifelong fan to have running things, but still, if the recent past has taught us anything with Purslow, and even David Moores before him, it’s that being a lifelong fan doesn’t always mean you actually know what’s best for the club.

As for Comolli, his work in the January window alongside Dalglish to bring in Suarez and Carroll is a good early return, and all things considered this doesn’t seem as though it should get in the way of the eventual extension of Dalglish’s contract, so that he’s officially taking on the Director of Football role everybody assumed he was hired for in the first place probably won’t make much of a real difference in the long run.

* Elsewhere, the never-ending soap opera that is Alberto Aquilani’s potential permanent move to Juventus rumbles on apace. Apparently Roma has inserted themselves into proceedings as a potential suitor should Juventus decide they are unwilling to match the previously agreed fee, which seems to have wakened Juventus after a couple of months spent angling for a further cut rate price on what was already a foolishly generous agreement signed last summer when former managing director Christian Purslow1 was doing his best to ship out any player the Daily Mail didn’t like. Said Aquilani’s agent of recent developments:

[Juventus] could sign him by making three to four delayed payments, a system which was established last summer. The agreement between Liverpool and Juventus is already there, it all depends on the willingness of Juventus. I think Aquilani will stay at Juventus and there will not be any obstacles.

It did never seem especially likely that he’d end up back at Liverpool, and Roma sniffing around seems to have only increased the likelihood he’ll stay in Turin. Then again, with this soap opera, you never do know what will happen. But it’ll probably involve evil twin brothers with mustaches at some point.

In the meantime, while you wait for injuries to heal and decisions to be made and tedious weeks you’ll never get back to pass…

1 Have I ever mentioned that regardless of whether or not he was a Liverpool fan, Christian Purslow was in fact far, far worse than Hitler?

Some Related Liverpool Posts:This Is Not and Other Wednesday Notes, and Other Wednesday NotesHillsborough Breakthroughs, Thanking Hodgson, and Other Wednesday NotesAndy Carroll, Defensive Pairings, and Other Wednesday NotesFake Plastic Chelseas, Raheem Sterling Makes Europa Squad, and Other Wednesday NotesJuventus Hemorrhaging Cash, Ashley Get Your Gun, and Other Monday Notes

Category: Premier League, Team News

Tags: Alberto Aquilani, AS Roma, Christian Purslow Is Worse Than Hitler, Damien Comolli, Fabio Aurelio, Ian Ayre, injuries, John Henry, Jonjo Shelvey, Juventus, Martin Kelly, Premier League, Steve Clarke, Steven Gerrard, Team News
Tweet « Of Dalglish and Elephants | Home | Damien Comolli Talks Suarez, Carroll, and Dalglish »cheekyfellowWhen you hear that we will get Kelly, Shelvey, and Gerrard back, the team looks a bit deeper. But only a bit!LucasLeiva21"Have I ever mentioned that regardless of whether or not he was a Liverpool fan, Christian Purslow was in fact far, far worse than Hitler?"

Purslow being Hitleresque does begin to explain the departure of Yossi Benayoun, now that I think about it...blog comments powered by Disqus