Killer 'stache, classic cars, classic rock, chronic alcoholism, and hating Rupert Murdoch --is there anything Dan Stark can't do?* |
While you were killing your liver in response to the various sad displays of the weekend, at least a couple of people stayed sober enough to string a few semi-coherent sentences together. In case you're too hungover (or still too drunk) to follow the threads and chase the ledes around the internets, here's some of what's being talked about from a Liverpool point of view...
* For a few hours yesterday wishful thinking got the better of Twitterpudlians everywhere as rumours about Hodgson's immanent departure caught hold. In the end it turned out to be somewhat less than true, which let's be honest, isn't all that surprising
, rumours being what they are and Saturday's display being nowhere near as bad as some of the ones he's survived previously. The more interesting--or at least amusing--part of the whole kerfuffle comes from Tomkins' speculation on how it all started: "Assume the 'Hodgson leaving' rumours sprung from Babel's tweet about a 'CEO meeting' (which, it transpired, was about his record company)." Oh Ryan Babel, is there anything your hilariously 1337 twatterings can't do? Hell, give the man and his iTwitch or whatever he posts with a buddy-cop show and ride that rocket to ratings gold.
* Last week brought momentary happiness when it turned out that Dani Pacheco had signed on for a new contract that would see him with the club until at least 2014 (in a world where players always saw out their contracts, that is), but though he says he sees his future with the club, he has publicly stated his desire to go out on loan in January to get more playing time:
In order to get some playing time, and if it suits the club, the best thing would be for me to go out on loan.
I had talks with Damien Comolli when signing a new contract and he told me that young players like myself and Martin Kelly are central to his vision for the club.
I’m training well and Roy Hodgson is happy with me; he’s seen what I can do in the Europa League. However, we will have to see how things stand in January and if the club are in agreement, then a loan move might be best for everyone.
Perhaps if Hodgson doesn't see room for him in the first team then it would be the best move for everybody. Still, it's hard not to remember countless rumours about a January loan that would lead to a permanent long term move. At least Comolli is involved now, and even if he's a bit of an unknown that's still an improvement over the known awfulness that was Purslow and his "lists."
* Speaking of loans, Daniel Ayala continues to be Hull's best defender, and unsurprisingly Hull City manager Nigel Pearson will seek to extend his loan beyond January. Probably the only thing stopping his move from becoming permanent is that Hull has no money and the aforementioned no more Purslow thing. Have I mentioned before that for all the credit he may deserve for helping to get rid of Hicks and Gillett, his little run playing football manager did long term damage to the club he claims to love? Not only would Aquilani and Insua have been on that list of disposable players over the summer, but the man he handed that list to was the first on his list of replacements for Rafa Benitez. So yeah, apparently TalkSPORT callers sometimes get to run football clubs. I imagine I'd have indigestion like I'd just eaten a bucket of bad chili if many of our frequent commenters had a similar approach to football.
* And last but not least, last week's poll about which referee Liverpool's followers kinda weren't huge fans of the most wrapped up, and unsurprisingly the top vote getter was Martin Atkinson, who received just over 54% of the vote. A bit of a surprise was that Howard Webb only garnered 19% to claim a distant second. Also, it should be mentioned that Lee Mason and Andre Marriner, who weren't eligible as neither had officiated a Liverpool match this season at the time, were mentioned as strong contenders in the comments.
Well, I know we're all waiting for Roy Hodgson to hop into his Trans Am and ride off into the sunset, but in the meantime...
*Not be cancelled by the aforementioned Rupert Murdoch, actually. He has a bit of trouble with that.