Merry Christmas one and all and welcome to Gameweek 19. Blackpool Vs Liverpool faces a late pitch inspection, otherwise it looks set to be a full line up over the festivities. There will be plenty of action to enjoy as you tuck into your Turkey sandwiches and polish of the last of the sherry.

Tottenham travel to Villa Park in Sunday’s late game, playmaker Rafael Van Der Vaart(8.2) may not be relishing the holiday fixtures but he is back to full fitness and sure to feature. The Dutchman has been hugely influential all season and Harry Redknapp will be delighted to have him back as Spurs look to keep up with the pack. Robbie Keane is destined for the exit door at White Hart Lane in January. The frontman is currently available for a cut-price 4.8 million. Provided he switches to another Premier League side that could be one hell of a deal.

It’s all gone a bit wrong for the Villa since their draw with Man Utd. If Emile Heskey(5.5) can regain his early season promise it could turn the tide for Gerrard Houllier’s men. Winger Stuart Downing(7.1) has also been a bright spot in a so far lacklustre season, the wingers influence could be even more crucial with fellow winger Ashley Young likely to sit this one out with a knee injury.

Chelsea have an excellent record against Arsenal so their trip to the Emirates could be a perfect opportunity to get their season back on track. Didier Drogba(12.5) probably can’t wait for Monday night, the obscenely gifted cry-baby has put 13 goals past the gunners in 13 matches.  The Blues also welcome back the very sorely missed Frank Lampard(12.6) to their starting line up. It is sure to be a keenly contested game that could provide a few goals. Arsenals twinkled toed Samir Nasri(8.4) could well be staking a claim for player of the season and it’s no surprise that he is currently in 32.5% of Fantasy League Teams. If you want to add a bit of Arsenal flair to your squad but are on a tight budget then you can always treat yourself to star of the future Jack Wilshere. The midfielder has picked up some serious game time this season, he will undoubtedly add to his current points total of 35 as his confidence grows and is yours for a cool 4.9 million.

Gameweek 20 will be upon us in a blink of an eye so that’s your lot for this week. If you feel like joining in the fun then join the EPL League by visiting: http://fantasy.premierleaguem.com/ the code you need to join is 13413-5300

With the transfer window opening immanently speculation is already mounting on who will be on the move in January. As teams look to give their squads that bit extra in the push for trophies, promotion or the battle against relegation, January is always a busy time. Check out the players below who could have a new home post Christmas.

Carlos Tevez
With Carlos Teves making his desire to leave Manchester City public knowledge a host of teams will be trying to prize the Argentine international away from Eastlands in January. While very few will be able to afford the player Chelsea, Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid will certainly be keeping close tabs on the situation. Manchester City will of course be hoping for a Wayne Rooney style u-turn.

Robbie Keane and David Bentley
While Spurs have won many plaudits this season for their free flowing attacking football two men that have found themselves very much frozen out of the side are Robbie Keane and David Bentley. Both proven at this level a number of clubs will be interested in securing their signatures. Keane has been linked with a return to Wolves while Bentley could be on his way back to Blackburn.

Andy Carroll
One of the players of the season so far is without doubt Andy Carroll. While the tall forward has had his fair share of problems of the field on it he continues to deliver. A local lad, Newcastle will be hoping that they can keep their number 9 but Tottenham are reported to be very keen on landing the England forward. Peter Crouch could be used as bait along with cash to tempt the Magpies into selling.

Michael Owen
An injury disrupted start to the season has once again limited the number of games Michael Owen has played. With Rooney, Berbatov and Hernandez all in front of him in the pecking order when he returns to fitness his opportunities will still be limited. Now in the latter in stages of his career Owen may now decide that he needs to play as many games as possible before hanging up his boots. Goodison Park is a possible destination.

Scott Parker
While the thought of Scott Parker leaving Upton Park is one that doesn’t bare thinking about for West Ham fans it could well happen. With the Hammers sitting bottom of the table the club may feel it makes more sense to cash in on the midfielder now rather then lose him for a cut price fee if they are relegated. There slim survival hopes will go out the door with Parker if he does leave.

Who else do you think could be on the move in the transfer window?

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.

For every Ronaldo, there’s a Shevchenko. Sometimes, great reputations come at a great cost yet fail to deliver. Shevchenko is a great player to start with. Feared throughout Europe, his performances for Dynamo Kiev and A.C. Milan saw him become one of the most lethal strikers in the world. Once he arrived at Stamford Bridge, his reputation began to fall apart.

Yet these things happen. Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, some players cannot settle. Yet others flourish when they were expected to fail. Now we look at some of the worst signings in the last ten years and ask ourselves, did Juan Sebastian Veron really cost £43 million for English clubs alone!!

Well over the years, especially as the Premiership’s international appeal has grown, we now find ourselves in a situation were probably as case can be made for a large chunk of the best players in the world currently ply their trade in England. From Rooney to Torres, Essien to Mascherano, every team offers us a plethora of international flavour. Now let’s cast our eyes over some of my selections for the worst signings this decade in no particular order.

1. Juan Sebastian Veron £43.6 million

Now Veron’s failure to cope with the Premiership is something I still can’t get to grips with. His international pedigree was assured, he’d pulled the strings for Lazio and Parma during a 5 year spell in Italy, he was a top player. The failure of the Little Witch to adapt to the Premiership still astounds me. Manchester United paid £28.1 million for him, but off loaded him 2 years later to Chelsea, were he continued to under-perform. A return to Italy at Inter Milan never saw him recapture his form and he has now returned to Argentinian football.

2. Andrey Shevchenko £30.8 million

As I’ve mentioned earlier, a striker with one of the most feared reputations in Europe caused Chelsea to change their system and lose their way a little under Jose Mourinho. Rumours abound that the Special One never wanted him at Stamford Bridge but since he joined Chelsea, his career has taken a nose dive. Even a return to A.C. Milan couldn’t recapture his glory days and he has now returned to Kiev. It was like watching a different player when he was at Chelsea, he just couldn’t cope with the game.

3. Sergei Rebrov £11 million

Oddly, Shevchenko’s strike partner failed to adapt to the English game also, but his refusal to accept black players as team mates meant that he was always going to struggle. Perhaps a little more digging in to his personal life would have avoided an £11 million mistake for Tottenham Hotspur in 2000.  Made a return to publicity when Spurs signed Roman Pavlychenko, warning him about the amount of “Non-whites” in the Tottenham area. A thoroughly horrible man, the Premiership is better for his absence.

4. Fernando Morientes £6.5 million

Another striker with a fearsome reputation who looked as if he’d been kidnapped and replaced by a stand in when he joined Liverpool in January 2005. It was especially strange as the season before, he’d had a marvelous campaign in the Champions League with Monaco and a solid reputation forged for Real Madrid and Spain. He just never got going at Anfield and returned to Spain after just 18 months.

5. David Bentley £15 million

Bentley had forged an excellent reputation under Mark Hughes at Blackburn Rovers but his spell at Tottenham has seen him under perform constantly. That goal against Arsenal was expected to be the catalyst but Aaron Lennon’s continued excellent form has seen him become a peripheral player at his beloved Tottenham. It’s simply not worked for him and the problem is no one can work out why.

6. Jean Alain Boumsong £8.2 million

This transfer still makes me laugh, as it was a ludicrous amount of money for a centre half who struggled to cope with Scottish football during his spell at Rangers. Yet, if you want someone to pay over the odds, who better than Graeme Souness to come to your rescue. Never coped while he was at St James’ Park, he was moved on to Juventus and struggled in Serie B before joining Lyon.

7. Albert Luque £9.5 million

Another one of Souness’ signings during his awful spell as Newcastle manager, Luque came highly rated but never saw his career take off at all in the North East. He’d had three excellent seasons at Deportivo but since his two year hell at Newcastle his career has collapsed. Another dreadful Souness signing that never recovered to show his early potential.

8. Bosko Balaban £6 million

Was highly rated when John Gregory signed him for Aston Villa but in his 30 month spell he never started a game or scored a goal. The long running joke amongst Villa fans was that they’d actually signed the wrong player but he was signed as a goal getting striker. On leaving Villa he continued to score goals but will always be remembered for the goalless spell at Villa Park.

9. Steve Marlet £11.5 million

The signing that brought the end to Jean Tigana’s reign as Fulham manager and caused a legal battle with the chairman of Fulham, Marlet was an unmitigated disaster. 11 goals in 4 years says it all and he is currently without a club. Though how he was ever valued at £11.5 million after scoring just 13 goals in 2 seasons at Lyon still mystifies me.

10. Robbie Keane £20 million

Poor old Robbie Keane thought he’d gone to heaven when Spurs grudgingly accepted a hefty bid for the Liverpool supporting Irishman. Yet, unbeknown to Keane, Benitez didn’t want him and he became a pawn in an internal battle between Rick Parry and Rafa Benitez. 6 months later he was on his way back to White Hart Lane for the remainder of the fee that Liverpool owed Spurs, so effectively the Reds paid £8 million for a 6 month loan deal. Has never looked the same player since he returned either.

11. Francis Jeffers £8 million

Arsene Wengers most expensive mistake, Jeffers was supposedly the fox in the box the Gunners needed as the long term replacement for Ian Wright. Yet Jeffers’ attitude had caused him to be gladly sold by Everton and his career has seen him fall down the leagues, failing to score or stay fit for than a month a time. A shining example of wasted potential, he scored on his England debut in 2001 and it was all down hill from there. Is frighteningly still 28, currently injured at Sheffield Wednesday.

So, any thoughts on who you feel was the worst Premiership signing of the last 10 years? Please leave your comments below.

With the season starting slightly earlier this year due to the World Cup, most teams in the Premiership have played 8 league games already. Last season, the 8th round of matches was played two weeks later, on the weekend of October 18th/19th. By the end of it, Tottenham were staring up at every other team in the league with a lowly 2 points. A 2-1 loss against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium had left Spurs trailing Newcastle by 4 points and Stoke and Fulham by 5.

A club in disarray, the fans in despair, the players lacking leadership on or off the pitch, things were not looking good. Not since 1988* had Tottenham propped up the table, ironically on Halloween. That season was to shadow a remarkable turn around in events at White Hart Lane as the week continued to get worse as Udinese beat Spurs on the Thursday 2-0 with a implosion in the last 15 minutes. Juande Ramos cut a depressed figure on the touchline in Udine, a man completely at a loss to explain what was happening or it seemed able to arrest the decline.

Daniel Levy’s reign as chairman had seen plenty of ups and downs during the course of the 7 years that had led to this point. Ramos was supposed to be the marquee managerial signing to move Spurs onwards from the work of the underrated and under appreciated Martin Jol. It was fast becoming a disaster of epic proportions as the club lurched from crisis to crisis. After 5 managers in that time, Levy was under enormous pressure to finally deliver, yet here they were, bottom of the league, winless, shapeless and facing relegation.

After the defeat in Italy, Ramos made the usual “We can play our way out of trouble” statements, but they rang hollow in the ears of the Spurs fans. Other than a well deserved point at Stamford Bridge, there had been nothing to cling to in the way of optimism. No-one else could see where the win was going to come from, the team looked beyond help. On Saturday, October 25th as the fans prepared for another inevitable defeat the next day against Bolton, things couldn’t get much worse.

As Match of the Day finished, I flicked over to Sky Sports News, just to see if perhaps anything at all had happened. As the image flicked on, the newsfeed at the bottom of the screen suddenly went in to to overdrive. “Tottenham have sacked Juande Ramos, Gus Poyet and Daniel Comolli with immediate effect…..Harry Redknapp has been confirmed as the new manager of Spurs …. Discussion with Redknapp next on Sky Sports News.” Then the adverts kicked in. Damn it!

I’d had a drink, who wouldn’t when you’re team was bottom of the league and playing like Worksop Town. I rewound the pictures and watched it again. Yep, still said the same. I shot to the PC, went on the BBC football site. It was the top story, Breaking News. The I checked the Guardian, yep, same there. It was true. I ran to the bedroom and woke my better half up, she told me to stop winding her up. I insisted it was true, and probably to simply placate me, she got up and went downstairs with me to see for herself.

Chelsea fans don’t believe a lot, though living with a Spurs fan means you get used to false dawns on a seasonal basis. Sitting down, SSN burst in to life once more, BOOOOOOOOOM went the special effects, WHOOOOOOOOOOSH went the graphics and then it was confirmed by the presenters clearly excited that people would actually be watching for once late on a Saturday night. Redknapp was indeed the new manager of Spurs. I let out a hearty cheer! My other half wasn’t impressed at all, ” Oh no, I’ve always really liked Harry. What has he done that for!” Time for another drink I decided, my despair transformed in minutes to optimism! Ah the joy’s of football eh!

As managerial announcements go, for me, its quite possibly one of the oddest I’ve ever come across, late on a Saturday night, less than 24 hours before a team is due to play a match. I bet every newspaper editor was cursing Levy throughout the United Kingdom. Yet, in the 38 League games Redknapp has managed Spurs in now, his record reads Played 38, Won 19, Drawn 8 Lost 11.With this season’s excellent start, Redknapp has assured that for the first time in 4 seasons, Spurs are not playing catch up after a slow start. 16 points from 8 games is Tottenham’s best ever start to a Premiership season.

No Spurs fan thinks that we’ll win the League, or finish in the top 4, but after the year of hell that was the Ramos era, it’s a whole lot better. The oddity of Ramos’ tenure, Spurs won the League Cup, their first trophy in 9 seasons and a 5-1 victory against Arsenal, yet it will always be viewed as a dreadful year.  Two shots of sunlight do not make a summer, but at least Harry’s got Spurs fans smiling again.

There is still plenty of work to do at Tottenham, the centre half issue needs resolving due the injuries King and Woodgate now have. The midfield have to learn to be able to play without Modric against big teams and not let Palacios do all the running, Keane needs to keep performing as he did against Burnley and Hull City. Defoe needs keep running and not get downhearted and the players outside the first 11 need to knuckle down and try and force themselves into Redknapps plans rather than whining to the media. Then maybe a top six place wouldn’t be out of the question, anything else would be a bonus.

*Spurs became the first team to be bottom of the First Division on Halloween in 1988 and not be relegated, actually finishing 6th as Gascoigne and Waddle combined to drag them up the table. The following season saw Spurs finish 3rd with Lineker joining the team as Waddle went to Marseille.

Jermain Defoe has had a fantastic start to the new season, with goals for England and Spurs; including his 50th for the club in the 2-1 win at West Ham. His hat trick and all round performance against Hull City was clearly his best performance in a Spurs shirt in either spell. When he rejoined Spurs in January this year, he was welcomed back with open arms as a disastrous season began to show the green shoots of recovery under Harry Redknapp.To be reunited with his mentor at a club that could finally match his talent was a win-win situation for all concerned.

Whilst I appreciate Defoe had already been at Tottenham prior to Redknapp’s appointment, he was always considered a luxury player. Under Santini and Jol, the Defoe and Keane partnership didn’t really seem to pay off. This saw Berbatov and Mido brought in 2006 and to this end, either Defoe or Keane would then partner the bigger man upfront. As time went by, the starting pair was consistently Keane and Berbatov and Defoe became 3rd choice.

Under the hellish reign of Juande Ramos, Defoe felt completely unloved, under rated and unwanted. Strikers, like the lead singers of a band, are in general, very precious, needing to be loved and told as much for them to perform. The chance to leave Spurs to link up with Redknapp at Portsmouth was too good a chance to turn down. In January 2008, Defoe moved to Fratton Park for £7.5 million.

17 goals in his 36 appearance for Pompey is some return, but with the financial difficulties beginning to bite on the South Coast last Christmas, Defoe made no secret of the chance to once again be reunited with Redknapp and return to White Hart Lane after 340 days away. Around the corner however, fate had a cruel twist awaiting Defoe.

After breaking his foot in a training ground accident, Defoe was laid up until April and had just returned to the squad on April 19th when his half brother, Jade was murdered. Defoe was devastated, he was close to Jade and his death hit him hard and given compassionate leave for two weeks by the club, on his return to playing, the Spurs fans gave him a rapturous welcome. He was clearly moved by the fans support that day.

Still finding his way back, fitness wise, Defoe managed to get a goal in the win over Manchester City and a brace for England against Andorra. It was a precursor of what this season had in store for him.

He has continued to find strength in the adversity that has happened to him in the last 6 months and along with his team mate, Wilson Palacios; whose brother was found murdered in May, 19 months after being kidnapped, the pitch is allowing them a place they can get away from it all. It has been to England and Tottenham’s benefit that Defoe is showing such character and feeding of the inspiring humilty of Palacios to deal with life correctly.

Defoe has spent the summer working on every aspect of his game, working on increasing his strength and changing his diet. He now realises he has a club manager that has always had faith in him and an international manager who now has a selection issue.For Tottenham and England fans, Defoe is showing signs of finally realising the potential that Redknapp spotted in him when he was at West Ham.

After Eriksson’s ludicrous decision not to take him to the 2006 World Cup, Defoe should be a shoe-in for South Africa and the only question for Fabio Capello is should he start him Wednesday night, his place in the World Cup Squad already assured. After all that’s happened to him this year, it’s the least he deserves.

When the final whistle went and those West Ham fans who’d spent most of Saturdays game against Chelsea abusing former old boys, Frank Lampard and John Terry, had disappeared to the pubs around and about, I bet they never thought they’d ever see either player back at Upton Park that soon. Obviously they were unaware that both players have agreed in principle to play for West Ham in a testimonial match for the Hammers’ academy director, Tony Carr as a celebration of his 36 years working for West Ham.

Now the West Ham fans have to swallow their pride after Saturday and think about how their actions toward those two former players reflects on Tony Carr’s night. Here’s a guy who’s given years of service to West Ham United and brought through countless players since he took over the role as Director Of Youth Development in 1973.There’s no doubt if Chelsea had played anywhere that weekend, they’d have got a lot of stick, especially Lampard and Terry and the chants weren’t that bad in the context of some of the things that are sung at football matches.

Yet, Lampard hasn’t helped himself before, with some comments about how his time was at West Ham, that he didn’t enjoy it as well, his family was badly treated by the club, he also said in a Chelsea supporters meeting he’d love to score the goal that sent West Ham down as well as the allegation that when he broke his leg playing for West Ham, some fans were cheering. I’d hate to think that was true, in fact I find it very hard to believe that West Ham fans would do that at all.So the abuse he got on Saturday was to be expected really.

People forget that Lampard has a history of slating West Ham whenever he seems to be interviewed but to say Lampard had a tough week last week would be an understatement, with the anniversary of his mothers death, an on air argument with a sad little shock jock and then the gauntlet of abuse he ran at Upton Park.

West Ham fans didn’t sing anything about his mother, but they did about the rant with the DJ and splitting up with his girlfriend, Terry got the same about his mother’s shopping indiscretion. That’s what happens at football matches, away players get rude songs sang at them, always have done, always will do. Some of the criticism the West Ham fans have received seems to be rather calculated in my opinion and I don;t think the stick they got was any worse than they would have received at Arsenal, Tottenham and Fulham.

I’m sure the majority of  West Ham fans that attend Tony Carr’s testimonial remember it’s a celebration of someone that has brought through the calibre of  Joe Cole, Lampard, Carrick, The Ferdinand brothers, Glen Johnson, Mark Noble,Tony Cottee, Paul Ince and the latest batch of Collinson, Tomkins, Sears and Stanislas. Let’s hope the minority don’t spoil a celebration of a man who would bleed claret and blue if you cut him, a more humble and proud Hammers fan you’d be hard pressed to find. Save all your singing for the next time you play Chelsea and give them the stick you feel they deserve, just don’t overstep the mark or spoil Tony Carr’s night.

What on earth is happening at Liverpool this week? There seems to some major leaking going on behind the scenes that seem to point to two camps eager to try and score points against each other. News has begun to circulate this morning that the chief executive, Rick Parry is to leave his position at Liverpool this afternoon after 12 years at Anfield. A statement is expected this morning to clarify matters. That sounds like he’s going to me.

After the Benitez leaving debacle on Wednesday, today the focus has shifted to Parry’s position in the Liverpool hierarchy. It’s an open secret that Parry and Benitez don’t get on at all, but once again, Liverpool’s dirty washing is being aired in public. After the news about Robbie Keane leaving Liverpool was revealed by the BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson in an interview with Irish Radio over Christmas, it’s been a constant stream of negativity leaking out of Liverpool.

Lawrenson made the cardinal sin of bragging about going for a drink with Steven Gerrard and that Gerrard had told him that Keane would be sold in the transfer window. Most of the British media picked this up and had a go at Lawrenson, though oddly the BBC ignored the story, and Lawrenson probably has been advised to keep things to himself in future by his Liverpool contacts.  The decision to sell Keane was seen by many as a sign of strength for Benitez, he’d wanted Gareth Barry and David Villa. Instead Parry went after neither target and signed Keane, against Benitez’s wishes. Once Keane had been sold back to Tottenham, the battle lines were drawn. The relationship has steadily gone down hill and Benitez may have made the point that if they’d signed who he wanted in the summer, they’d still be top. That alone makes Parry’s position weaker.

Now 4 weeks later, it begins to seem as if Benitez has won out but it also makes you wonder, just who was behind the stories about Rafa leaving on Wednesday. Surely it wasn’t a deliberate act by someone either at Liverpool or working on information supplied to them by a Liverpool employee was to try and destabilise the team ahead of the crucial Champions League game at the Bernabeu? Defeat for Liverpool would have made things very difficulty for Rafa to salvage anything from a season that promised so much but has run out of steam. It would have made the owners consider if it was worth offering him a new contract, or looking at other options.

Overall though, whoever has in charge of Liverpools public relations this week has had their work cut out dealing with all the misinformation flying around. Is Parry really going to be let go this afternoon or has the Benitez camp begun some mischief making of their own? Ferguson will be loving this, Hiddink will probably think Liverpool have the implosion abilities of Ajax in his native Holland, O’Neill and Wenger will see cracks they could possible exploit. The Blue half of Liverpool will be revelling in the continuing soap opera developing across Stanley Park.

Parry isn’t exactly Mr Popular with Liverpool fans, or the owners though he has always counted on George Gillette’s support. By all accounts though, that support has begun to evaporate leaving Parry isolated and alone at Anfield. The fans in general, have nothing but loathing for him, blaming him missing out on Villa and Barry in the Summer and seem to have no respect for him at all. If anything positive was to come out of this season for the Reds, Parry announcing he was leaving would probably placate a lot of them.

Alex Ferguson will be singing the praises of Manchester City today after Liverpool stuttered, spluttered and failed to find the winning goal they needed to have any chance of winning the title. From a fantastic position before Christmas, Liverpool have thrown point after point away to allow Manchester United to catch them up, draw level and now pull too far away to catch.

7 points with 12 games to go may not seem too far a distance for Liverpool, but honestly, can you see United losing 3 games whilst Liverpool keep winning. It’s never going to happen and Ferguson has been proved right when he questioned if Liverpool had the experience and stomach for a consistent title challenge in January. Benitez has seen his side falter and his stubborn insistence on playing two defensive midfielders, even in home games, has cost them any hope of the title. Why is he obsessed with playing Lucas? I cannot understand his inclusion in the Liverpool starting line up, especially with the attack minded Babel on the bench.

It’s a decision that confuses me when they need to win games. Lucas is never going to offer anything, his passing was its usual dreadful range of over hit passes, under hit balls, awful first touches and safe sideways passing. Why is he in there rather than a more attacking midfielder? For some reason, Benitez doesn’t seem to come under anywhere near the level of criticism for his transfer dealings that he should. How much money has he wasted in his 5 years, £100 million? £150 million? Liverpool’s two most consistent players, Gerrard and Carragher, in his tenure were already there, Torres has simply been injured too many times this season and the cover he has for him simply cannot cope with the pressure of a title challenge. Selling Robbie Keane after treating him like a diseased leper, becomes a worse decision every time Liverpool drop points or fetch on David N’gog to try and salvage something.Peter Crouch, Jermaine Pennant, Scott Carson, Craig Bellamy, Mark Rodriquez, Fernando Morientes, Gabriel Paletta, Jan Krompkamp and Mo Sissiko have all been bought and sold under Benitez. The side cry out for a decent left back, but he sold their best one to Blackburn Rovers, there is no quality cover for Gerrard and Torres. The reserve side is full of cheap South American imports that won’t push themselves in to the first team.  Lucas cost £6 million. That alone is a travesty.

After 3 years of not winning anything after 2 of the luckiest cup final wins in the history of football ( The 2005 Champions League and the 2006 F.A. Cup) you have to question his future as manager of Liverpool. Why should he be offered a new contract? How many points will Liverpool finish behind Manchester United, if they even manage to hold on to second, which is no guarentee with Chelsea and Aston Villa still breathing down their necks. What excuses will we be given next? It’s always someone else’s fault that Liverpool don’t win games and his childish outbursts are frankly absurd. He picks the team, chooses the tactics, plays midfielders up front, centre halves at right back and strikers on the wing. Is Alex Ferguson brainwashing him to pick such unbalanced sides?

Does he honestly believe that his defensive strangulation of football can deliver another Champions League? Will he try to suffocate Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night, a side transformed under Juande Ramos since he was parachuted in to save their season in January. 8 wins on the trot have seen Madrid eat in to Barcelona’s lead, cutting it from 12 points to 7 and perhaps the Champions League is more realistic proposition for Madrid than it is for Liverpool. A bad result on Wednesday night will be the end of Liverpools season that promised so much 6 weeks ago to be over before the end of February. They will be fortunate to finish 10 points behind Manchester United and lucky if they get anywhere near the Champions League final. Benitez has thrown the Premiership title away and if Liverpool want to win it, they need a new manager.

Real Madrid manager Juande Ramos, formerly of Tottenham, criticized Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez for giving up on Robbie Keane after half a season.

“You can’t tell me Robbie will not score goals at a top club,” Ramos is quoted as saying in The Sun.

“He is a top player and I don’t think he did badly at Liverpool.

“He scored goals and showed he’s a team player.

“He’s definitely a matchwinner for any club and if he were still at Liverpool, I would be telling my defenders to watch for him,” he added in reference to next week’s meeting between Real and Liverpool in the Champions League.

Ramos is right that Keane can be a match-winner.  He’s a tremendous instinctive player.  Flourishing in a free role, he’s unpredictable and can create havoc for opposing defenders.

Keane, however, could not have done that at Liverpool.  Benitez’ team plays a considered, deliberate brand of football.  For all of Keane’s fantastic instincts, he’s not a thinker.  

He intuitively reacts to what’s in front of him, sometimes brilliantly.  He’s not one to set out with a task and impose on the opposition.  When forced to do so, he befuddles himself into ineffectiveness.

There is a role in Liverpool’s system for a spontaneous, freewheeling and instinctive player.  Steven Gerrard fills it, and far better than Keane ever would.

Rafa Benitez should be censured over Keane, but for wasting club’s limited transfer funds on him, not for being decisive once the story was clear.

Liverpool’s problem up front, now, is not Robby Keane being gone.  It’s that the Keane deal did not go through quickly enough to buy a replacement.