Every once in a while I come across a unique video that I feel would be worth sharing with you, my readers. And here’s one. It’s the 1977 European Super Cup between Liverpool, holders of the European Cup (the precursor to the Champions League) at the time against the holders of the European Cup Winner’s Cup, Hamburg. Nowadays the closest thing to the European Cup Winner’s Cup is the Europa League. The idea behind the Cup Winner’s Cup was to bring together the winners of the domestic cup competitions from each country and then participate in a straight knock-out tournament over two legs (home and away) until the final.

The 1977 European Super Cup is interesting to watch for several different reasons. On a bitterly cold night at Anfield, the game marks the return of former Liverpool legend Kevin Keegan who had only recently joined the German side. The number 7 of Kevin Keegan for Hamburg was on the same pitch as his replacement, number 7 of Liverpool – Kenny Dalglish. It’s also interesting to watch the video to see how the game is produced and presented to the viewer, as well as to recognize how many empty seats there were at Anfield.

Despite a strong start by Hamburg in this game, which was the second leg of the final (both teams drew 1-1 during the first leg in Germany), it was Liverpool who went on to win the match. Based on how he missed a clear-cut chance to score early in the game, it may be surprising to know that Terry McDermott went on to score a hat trick in this game to help Liverpool win 6-0 (and on aggregate, win it 7-1) to lift the 1977 European Super Cup trophy.

While the video is only the furst 10 minutes of the broadcast, what are some of the highlights which stand out for you? Please share them in the comments section below.

So it seems the end is drawing close for Rafa Benitez at Anfield, with reports all over the place pointing to the Liverpool owners offering Benitez £3 million to leave immediately. Quite what has happened to bring Liverpool lurching in to another crisis so soon after the season has ended is unsure, but for me, he’s been under pressure ever since he guaranteed the club would finish 4th back in January.

That at the time looked a long shot as Liverpool huffed and puffed there way through turgid performance after turgid performance. Even the most biased Liverpool fans were unsure if it was attainable but come the May 9th, the club had crashed from almost winning the Premiership in 2008-2009, to almost not qualifying for Europe in 12 months. No doubt it was all Sir Alex Ferguson or referee’s fault. At the moment the Daily Mirror are claiming he’s actually been sacked, most of the other stories are saying he’s been asked to leave.

Now, I’ll be honest, I simply didn’t think the club would see sense and try to get rid of him. I’m sick of the apologists blaming the board for Liverpool’s problems. It’s a phony war, it doesn’t cover the fact that Benitez has spent so badly, so consistently over the 6 years he’s been at Anfield. Yes, the board are culpable for some of the problems, but it doesn’t cover the fact he has sold 34 of the 77 players he has signed. Almost half, that is a frightening amount, that is probably the worst turn over of a manager at a club in the modern era.

The club are not in a position to sack him due to the financial situation, Gerrard and Torres are being linked with clubs, Mascherano wants to leave for family reasons, Benayoun is on the verge of joining Chelsea. Transfer targets have now had to be downgraded from Champions League players to Europe League targets. Yet for all that, people still go on about that night in Istanbul. 5 years ago. Or winning the F.A. Cup on penalties against a newly promoted West Ham side. 4 years ago.

This is a club on the edge of the precipice, financially and football wise. Last summer I wrote that Aston Villa had more chance of winning the Premiership than Liverpool and was roundly castigated by Reds fans who thought I meant Villa would win the league. I didn’t, I meant Aston Villa had more chance of winning the Premiership than Liverpool. As it turned out, they finished higher in the table but neither of them had a chance of troubling the top end of the table.I just thought Liverpool had no chance of winning the title.

This is a manager who sold Liverpool’s best prospect in years, Stephen Warnock to Blackburn and then replaced him with abysmal left back after abysmal left back. Warnock’s career has continued to blossom since his departure and is developing in to one of the leagues best left backs. This is a manager who spent the summer of 2008 trying to flog Xabi Alonso and then whined all summer 2009 when Alonso told him he wanted to leave. Then replaced him with an injury prone midfielder who he then seemed to fall out with. Outstanding.

The only people I imagine who will be sad to see Benitez go are anyone who supports anyone else in the top eight. Of course there will be plenty of Liverpool fans, still blinded by the amazing comeback in 2005, unable to see just how far the club have fallen since that night who will be distraught. I don’t understand it. If Liverpool had won the league in 2008-2009, for me they would have been the worst Premiership title winners since the league started in 1992 and probably the worst league winners in nearly 30 years since Villa won it in 1981.

I won’t fall into this trap of speculating who’ll replace him, but I don’t doubt CV’s will be whizzing themselves to Anfield as we speak. I doubt anyone else, apart from Graeme Souness, could make a worse job of it than Benitez has the last 4 seasons, 2008-09′s second place excluded. The added bonus is the club have Kenny Dalglish there to steady the ship in the current climate and that alone will make sure the club will move onwards away from Benitez’s dire tactics and referee baiting.

Leave me your comments below and you can always find me on http://twitter.com/paulbestall

All great relationships come to an end, the natural course having run as far as it can. Sometimes they start passionately and brightly and quickly burn away to nothingness. Sometimes, they are a slowly burning and taut affair that consumes all within them in a supernova of passion oblivious to all around them. Occasionally, despite saying the opposite, things simply aren’t working. The public face presents a lie, when everything behind the scenes falls apart.

Of course, finishing 7th is no insult and 6th is not out of the question but this is Liverpool. European Champions on 5 occasions, runners up twice. League Champions 18 times and runners up on 12 other occasions. The most decorated club in English League history can end up qualifying for the Europa League because Portsmouth are not allowed to enter. Is it good enough to be surviving on scraps thrown by clubs imploding financially? Simply put, no it isn’t.

I saw Benitez’s post match comments on Sunday and was astounded. You can’t position yourself as a champions of the fans and then refuse to commit yourself to confirming whether you intend to be at the club next season. Benitez owes that to the Anfield faithful at the very least. They have backed him 100% throughout his consistent battles with the owners and the boardroom and now he throws it back in their faces. I think most fans of other clubs would be hard pressed to have kept the patience with a manager like the Liverpool fans have with Rafa Benitez.

Of course, his supporters will always point to the 2005 Champions League final victory and to a lesser extent, the F.A. Cup victory the following season over West Ham United. Last season saw Liverpool come within a whisker of winning the title but ultimately missed out due to the points dropped against “lesser” sides. The beginning of the season saw them lose as many leagues games in 8 days as all of last year. Complaints about Real Madrid tapping up Xabi Alonso were treated with the contempt they deserved after Benitez had spent most of the summer of 2008 trying to flog him.

He claims the club needs 4 or 5 great players, unlike the majority of the 77 he’s signed. With the exception of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, every single player at Liverpool is a Benitez signing. Incredibly, of the 77 players he’s signed, 30 of them have been sold on. His supporters claim the board have tied his hands in regards to the money he’s had to spend, but looking at his transfer record, honestly, can you blame them? A scatter gun transfer policy that currently sees Liverpool using Mascherano as a right back and a £7 million left back in the reserves. A depth of striking talent after Torres that a Championship club would be embarrassed to have at its disposal.

This refusal to commit himself to Liverpool next season surely treats the fans like idiots. He has more support from them and delivered probably less than any Liverpool manager since Graeme Souness’ dreadful tenure in the early nineties. He eventually fell on his sword and resigned after they were beaten by Bristol City at home in the F.A.Cup in January 1994.Yet the 3 seasons he’d spent there were littered with dreadful signings, arguments and badly judged media interviews, such as with the Sun newspaper on the 3rd anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. Yet even he won the F.A. Cup in 1992.

Souness finished 6th, 6th and 8th and the club were at the weakest they’d ever been in the modern era. Liverpool have finished outside the top 6 twice in the last 20 years and only 4 times in the 47 seasons they spent in the top flight since winning promotion back to the top division in 1962. Of course, they may still finish 6th but that’ not Benitez’s weakness for me, it’s his refusal to treat his supporters with the respect they deserve after all the support they’ve given him and tell them if he’s staying.

Perhaps of course, he’s playing the protection card, asking the board for the moon and then quitting when they quite rightly tell him to get stuffed. Only then will he consider the offer from Juventus that is on the table and has been for weeks. Added to this the fact that he absurdly claims he’s trying to meet up with the new chairman after canceling two scheduled meetings in the last fortnight weakens his position even further.

Liverpool’s fans deserve better, the club deserve better and no-one is happy. Rafa looks fed up and coming from a family of Liverpool fans, they’re fed up. The relationship has run its course and if Rafa Benitez really cared about Liverpool he’d do the right thing and quit. When you get to a point in a season where you want your team to lose to stop a rival club winning the title, I think that’s all you need to say and that’s a fact Rafa. It can only get worse from here.

Henry Winter is one of Britain’s most respected football journalists and currently works for the Daily Telegraph. His career started at the Independent and he moved to The Telegraph in 1994. A familiar face on Sky’s Sunday Supplement, Henry was been kind enough to have a quick chat with us about himself and football.

Henry has been at the top of British sports writing for over 20 years and alongside his work for both the Daily Telegraph and Telegraph online, he currently writes a column for Four Four Two and can often be heard on Radio Five Live discussing the beautiful game.

EPL Talk: Thank you for taking the time to talk to us today Henry.

Henry Winter: No problem.

EPL Talk: First up, I believe you started your career with the Independent back in the 1980′s when it launched? ( The Independent launched in 1986) How was it starting on a major paper so young? Did you come to the Independent straight from University or did you cut your teeth on a local newspaper first?

Henry Winter: I managed to convince the Independent that they needed to include a sports and schools column when they launched. I’d spent the previous 12 months after graduating from Edinburgh University in 1985 producing a magazine on sport in London.

EPLTalk: You’ve been at the Telegraph since 1994, one of the things I really enjoy about your writing is that you don’t just concentrate on the Premiership. Is it refreshing to have such a variety of football to cover?

Henry Winter: Half of all football attendances in Britain are outside the Premiership, and Leeds United are a bigger club than all of the Premiership sides, with the exception of the top 6 or 7, so it’s very important to go and see them.

EPLTalk: When I was talking to Patrick Barclay, we discussed his appearances on the Sunday Supplement on Sky. Do you enjoy being on the programme as much?

Henry Winter: I love appearing on the programme because it’s a group of friends sitting around and talking football, which tends to be the way I live the rest of my life!

EPLTalk: I first came across you’re writing with the Kenny Dalglish biography which I received as a present when it was released in 1996. Did you know him well before writing it and how difficult was writing the chapter that covered the Hillsborough disaster?

Henry Winter: I didn’t know Dalglish very at all before writing the book, so I was very honoured to be asked to write it with him. The Hillsborough chapter was very difficult.

EPLTalk: I notice your last book was with David Davies, with F.A. Confidential. Was it eye opening to uncover some of the things that were going on?

Henry Winter: Yes it was but nothing surprises me with the English Football Association.

EPLTalk: Do you have any further plans to write anymore books?

Henry Winter: Yes I do, but I have been very spoiled with the subject matter so far, Kenny Dalglish, John Barnes and Steven Gerrard.

EPLTalk: Now, back to your football career. Did you play for Spartans in the East of Scotland League or have I imagined that?

Henry Winter: I played for Edinburgh University first team but as I didn’t stay on, so I unfortunately missed out on the opportunity to play for Spartans.

EPLTalk: Finally Henry, as Arsenal fan, what were your feelings on the move from Highbury and do think Arsene Wenger gets too much criticism?

Henry Winter: I have been accused of being a Manchester United fan by Manchester City fans, a Liverpool fan by Everton fans and a Tottenham fan by Arsenal fans, so I guess I’m pretty neutral. As for Highbury, the club had simply outgrown it and needed to move onwards. The Wenger criticism is ludicrous, do people want Stuart Houston back?

We’d like to thank Henry Winter for his time and you can keep up with his regular column online here:

King Kenny is back! After a 18 year hiatus, the man many hail as Liverpool’s greatest ever player, Kenny Dalglish, will rejoin Liverpool Football Club.

From the club’s official site:

“Dalglish will assume a senior role at the Liverpool Academy and will also act as a Club ambassador working with the commercial side of the business around the world.”

Jamie Carragher had already sparked Liverpool supporters’ hopes for this possibility when he suggested the idea of Dalglish’s return in his 2008 autobiography:

“After the takeover was complete, I’d argued to friends there needed to be a greater Anfield connection on the board to balance out what Tom Hicks and George Gillett openly accepted was their limited understanding of our game and Liverpool in general.”

Carra also talked about Kenny being able to act as a go-between when tension and issues arose between manager Rafa Benitez and the owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. It is unclear if King Kenny will be in a position to do this from his position within the youth academy or as club ambassador working “around the world,” but, in any case, the Dalglish presence at Liverpool should prove to be a healthy and inspiring one.

When I first thought of Dalglish return, after Carra’s book came out, I envision Dalglish in a role with the first team. Directly working with the players for the next bid for the title. But Rafa now has Sammy Lee at his side on the pitch, and putting Dalglish in a position to influence the youth players is a brilliant move. One feels Liverpool’s future is in the best hands with King Kenny getting involved with the youngsters.

Brought in in 1977 after Kevin Keegan left Liverpool, Dalglish played in 515 first team matches, scoring 172 goals. Prolific, visionary and selfless, Dalglish the player was a true footballing genius.

Then, in 1985, Joe Fagan announced his retirement as manager, hours before the Heysel disaster. The next season, Kenny Dalglish became player/manager, leading the team to much glory over the next few years, winning titles and cups galore. Dalglish also led Liverpool through difficult times. He took over in the wake of one tragedy and remained manager through another: Hillsborough. Many believe the effect of the latter, which weighed heavily on Dalglish, led to his surprise resignation in 1991.

But now, the King is back.

A legendary figure from Liverpool’s golden era, Dalglish’s deep knowledge of football as well as of the club itself will be invaluable to the young players coming up through the ranks.

It looks more and more like FIFA are going to pass the ridiculous 6+5 rule, requiring 6 “home grown” players in a club’s starting line-up. If passed, FIFA are expected to implement the rule slowly, taking a few years until it is fully in place, and with Dalglish helping the academy players grow, Liverpool could be in a position to turn this frustrating quota to their benefit.

An academy that has already produced the likes of Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman may have more rich treasures to bear once King Kenny gets involved.

And his role with promoting the club around the world cannot hurt either. He is the perfect spokesman for Liverpool.

So welcome back, King Kenny. This is truly exciting news.

When you’re watching the Premier League, which footballer do you identify with the most? In life, are you a hard-nosed John Terry, a metrosexual David Bentley, a wear-your-heart-on-your-sleeve Steven Gerrard, or perhaps a John Carew who has a penchant for lap dances?

As a child, I identified with Kenny Dalglish when he played at Liverpool. One, I was pretty deadly in front of goal when playing at my local playground. Two, whenever I ran, I always got really red in the face as King Kenny did. And three, he had a similar haircut to mine at that time.

Of course, Dalglish never played in the Premier League, but if I had to pick one that I identify with the most, it would have to be Gareth Bale. He’s Welsh, like I am. He plays on the left wing, which is the position I played at during high school. He always tries hard and has a lot of potential as well as pace.

Which Premier League player do you identify with and why? Click the comments link below and let us know.