* Fridays must have been the days when Rafa's mom would leave baby Rafa alone in his crib for hours while she cleaned the house or something, because the man is a freakin' attention monger today. First, he gives Reading manager Steve Coppell much love and deservedly so, he's done a great job at Reading and probably should be the manager of the England National Team. But we don't want the FA to do something that would please the fans, now do we? It's just too much fun turning up our noses in disgust.
* Next Rafa revealed his secrets in motivating Mascherano to be the star that he's quickly become. It's quite simple, in fact, he just knew how to speak better Spanish than Pardew or Curbishley did at West Ham. Brilliant. I would also add that giving Masch actual time on the pitch helps. I can only hope and wonder how positive this situation could make our outlook among Spanish speaking nations and the players they produce. I can't see how it won't give us a leg up on bringing them to the 'Pool.
* Finally, Benitez gives his state of the club address.
* Bellamy should be back for the match with Reading. Hopefully he'll be raring to go and ready to score after taking a week-and-a-half off to convalesce from minor bumps and bruises sustained in matches for Wales. It would be great to get the kind of result we got from Crouch after his nose job induced holiday.
* Finally, we have a nice little write-up on 17-year-old Jamaican striker Reneil 'Ricky' Sappleton who is on trial at Melwood. I'm not sure why he's pointing to his manhood on that pic there. By the way, yes, I am implying that all Jamaicans smoke marijuana. I'll be back in a bit with a half-assed preview of tomorrow's match and an all-new installment of the world-renowned award-winning blamsho, What Would Rafa do? Ciao.