Liverpool Won't Win The Premiership Title 2001-2

Hey, I was right about Chelsea in 5th, Spurs 7th, Everton top half.

Maybe it's only a downward spiral because they'd been so consistent before.

One question, who is currently top of the premiership?

But, anyway, to restate my view:

Chelsea reverse amazing, but a mere blip. A bit like a comedy series that uses all its best material in the pilot ("The Clairvoyant"!) or a band with one great debut single. There's not going to be any follow-up to this. I'd love to see an LFC festive slump, but they've just conceded all the goals they're going to for the rest of the year.

Arsenal the major challengers, and to really threaten they need to take at least a point on 23/12 (and, of course, win tonight - Bobby R due *something* in the capital by now, surely?). This is just the sort of game Houllier's Liverpool peak for (precisely the opposite with Evans). Leeds too flaky.

Very prepared to be wrong, wrong, wrong about this.

This should probably be a new thread, but I haven't got my New Threads badge yet.

I need to get excited about something.

I bet Bobby R's face is a picture. "Whelllll...."

Omar, have Ajax got any interesting matches lined up in early April?

Pinefox, I don't think LFC WILL win the premiership but I do think they can.

nothing really interesting, sort of mid-table to bottom teams. Tonight a semi-biggie though, at home against Vitesse.

Tel. call from gooner friend this am; he blithely shrugged away the result before I knew what it was: 'a hoot', he says, all down to G Poll; no worries, Arsenal were brilliant, blah.

I think that Bobby Robson's Newcastle being Dec 19 leaders is an absolute delight. And what a way to end that London run.

Sky Sports tells us that the mighty LFC managed only one strike on target vs Arsenal - which is a little harsh, considering Little Mikey Owen went so close via Ashley Cole's stumble. Justice was done I think, considering the whole van Bronckhorst nonsense (though, Mrs Edna W - an uncharacteristically sweary presence to my left throughout - correctly predicted Durkin's red-card reaction). I'll only be prepared to call this a slump if Liverpool fail to pick themselves up for trips to Villa (already victors at Anfield this season) and West Ham.

I didn't see the Leeds v Newcastle match, but it's a lovely thing to have an avuncular white-haired ol' fella as our Christmas number 1. I don't suppose they'll stay there...

By a five-goal margin, away from home? I think not. Good win at Villa though - vital, actually.

A depressing inevitability about the result at Goodison - I can't recall how many times Man U have poached a couple of late goals in fairly even contests with EFC over the last ten years, but I suspect it's more than three. Unsworth's miss = the end of any 2002 Royal Blue pretensions to top-half worthiness, let alone UEFA glory. Time to start practising that furtive over-the-shoulder glance.

Didn't see any of your match Mike but as far as I remember your boys do that a lot, give good teams a rough ride and then trip up at the last, and I had you down for a sneaky win yesterday too.

Sunderland away and Man Utd are hard nuts to crack, actually; esp. compared to Ipswich and Soton. A Black Xmas for both clubs. Newcastle keeping a rare flame burning, and good on them.

I fear that my previous predictions look more OTM than ever. I feel for the Pool fans out there. How long must they wait?

The sheer jamminess of LFC's win at Villa seems very redolent of their 80s style - a mini-slump would be followed by a tricky away fixture (possibly televised, with Ian St John summarising), promising further misery for the Reds. But, appallingly, the opposition would spurn chance after chance and Rushie would bag a later winner after some ludicrous fluke of a Craig Johnston equaliser. A fortnight later, they'd be top, immovable til May.

Once again, I do hope I'm wrong.

Its not the north or the south side
No its not
its not the east or the west side
no its not
It is the Darkside
That is correct!.

- Ian, you can never rule out Liverpool, can you?

- [Laughs] No, you *can't*... and isn't it incredible.. the number of times we've seen them a goal down, looking out of it, and at the end of the game they've got the three points... and -

- Sympathy for Ipswich?

- I *do*, I feel very sorry, very symptathetic for Ipswich, but [laughs] what can you do - we've said it time and again, we've come on here on a Sunday.

- And all thanks to this man.

- That man again! Well he just has this ability doesn't he, this *knack*, of - being on the spot when they need him. And, what can you say.

Inexplicably, Gerrard and Owen started on the bench. When those two came on in the second half it was a different story, and I think overall a draw was a fair result.

To have any chance at the title this season their key players will need to stay injury free.

Dean Windass, he looks dead thick.

and my last thing before I leave, who looks clever? except Le Saux of course, that goes without saying. Dudek, he looks like he's got some book learning in him, as does Karl Heinz Reidle.

Who will come in at Villa? David Moyes from Preston? or Megson from the Baggies? or Dodgy Graham?

On a totally different note I was drinking that cheap red bull substitute with crap vodka last night and I had nightmares about Gerard Houllier and assorted Liverpool players past and present having fights in New York. Jesus it was scary.

Comedy quotation: Doug Ellis says "This shows the amount of pressure managers are under in the modern game". (File that one with the Krays' police programme.)

Gregory for Derby? Graham for Villa - yes, I think I can see that. (Imagine it - reunited with both Merson and Ginola!)

Dr C - did you see Big Ron in the Guardian today? Sounds like you and he might agree re. Chelsea.

He doesn't mention Roy Hodgson, though - that's an interesting one. I like Hodgson, though I can't quite explain why. I remember being so sad when they said he broke down in tears on being fired from Blackburn.

Roy Hodgson just seems like a thoroughly decent chap from what I've seen, and it looks as if Udinese shat on him terribly.

To answer one question though, I don't hold a lot of hope for winning it, but there is a glint there, just a glint, probably the same glint in the eyes of Arsenal, Leeds and Newcastle fans.

Also Red Cabbage is having things too much his own way at the moment and that's not good for him.

Then Edna thrashed me three times in table football *and* the machine swallowed my last 50p.

To change the subject though, where did Heskey find his shooting boots? I'm glad he did though.

England squad you say? Vassell, Rickets *and* Phillips on the team sheet? WTF?????

I think if Houllier had been around that dip in form wouldn't have lasted quite as long.

Agreed. (Didn't see it.)

WAHT

Chelsea's Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko has revealed how he would like to become part of the growing football revolution in America at some stage of his career. Shevchenko has failed to reproduce the kind of form which prompted Chelsea to pay AC Milan a record £30.1 million fee for him and the 30-year-old now admits to having an ambition to play in the US before he retires.

hi dere chicago!