| Basel v Bayern Munich: match preview Read a full preview of the Champions League Group E match between Basel and Bayern Munich at St Jakob-Park, Basle, on Tuesday Sept 28 2010, kick-off 19.45 BST. telegraph.co.uk |
Players union fears end for Fury, United A-League clubs North Queensland Fury and Gold Coast United may be gone by the end of the season, Professional Footballers Australia chief executive Brendan Schwab says. foxsports.com.au |
Liverpool catharsis must end on pitch At the end of the storm Liverpool FC's players owe it to their heritage to hold their heads up highBefore Judge Jim Jordan of the 160th district court in Dallas had any say at Anfield, Liverpool's starring cast was Belly, Bugsy, Bumper, Digger, Dogs, Dusty, Rushie, Souey and Whip. The glossary of nicknames at the start of Kenny Dalglish's new book suggests a scouse remake of Watership Down but points instead to the tradition of folk hero veneration that keeps the Kop in banners.It is a precondition of following Liverpool that the club's most celebrated figures assume quasi-religious status. You could say the same about Eric Cantona at Manchester United or Kevin Keegan at Newcastle but around Anfield there is a deeper social or political affinity. The player who devotes his being to the red half of Merseyside is assumed to have swallowed a set of values, which is why Dalglish called his latest autobiography: My Liverpool Home.From his unrivalled position as Liverpool's most illustrious player, Dalglish meditates on his own membership of the tribe and describes the magnetic pull of the Kop, from where he has yet to watch a game, an anomaly that haunts him. The nicknames speak of a time when the manager was a civic leader, the players attracted more attention than bankers and judges, and the people who owned the club were the "custodians" of something grander than digital streaming revenues.To limit the misery of those trying to decipher the glossary without having the book, Belly was Alan Kennedy, Bugsy Ronnie Moran, Bumper Steve Nicol, Digger John Barnes, Dogs Dalglish himself, Dusty Ronnie Whelan and Whip David Fairclough. Souey and Rushie are self-explanatory. Few Liverpool fans would mind if this lot formed a commando unit and occupied Anfield until the phrase "acquisition debt" was erased from our language.Two new idols have joined this firmament. One is an Oxbridge graduate with an MBA from the Harvard Business School. His full name is Christian Mark Cecil Purslow. The second is a Chelsea-supporting former president of the Confederation of British Industry – the employers' organisation all left-leaning Liverpudlians would have felt it their duty to resist in line with the city's socialist tradition. This one's full name is Martin Faulkner Broughton. They are the chief executive and chairman, respectively.There can be few Liverpool fans who ever imagined they would be lining up behind captains of industry in the battle against a Texan judge and two soon to be former owners who now talk, without a hint of irony or self-awareness, of an "epic swindle" and a "grand conspiracy".This puts one in mind of the first Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield fight, promoted by Don King. Most at ringside were certain Lewis had won comfortably on points but the verdict was larceny: a draw that rather sweetly set up a rematch. Denouncing the judges, King – who had most to gain from a return bout – hollered: "We can't let them get away with this!" George Gillett and Thomas O Hicks are Don King, railing against their own farce.While this unfolds as a weird parallel drama to the Chilean miners miracle, Liverpool's supporters await a handover of keys from bad owners to good, and a restoration of the sense they had on 24 May 2009, that the long wait for a 19th league title was inching to a close. That day, Rafael BenÃtez's team beat Spurs 3-1 to confirm a second-place finish with 86 points: four fewer than Manchester United but with only two defeats from 38 outings, at Spurs and Middlesbrough.Seventeen months on, Liverpool are 18th in the Premier League with six points from seven games and face a trip to Everton on Sunday, where there will doubtless be lots of tea and sympathy. The more apocalyptic analysts say Liverpool are in a vortex from which there can be no escape. This all seems to be based on the loss of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano in successive summers and the failure to recruit comparable replacements, plus the inability of Fernando Torres to open a ketchup bottle without straining something.No, what we have here is a bad case of collapsed morale. The core of the side who chased United over the line two seasons ago remains intact. A suspicion is that some of the current players took the first chance they could find to doubt Roy Hodgson's credentials, and will improve their attitude and work-rate only if the new owners offer the new manager the most trenchant support.But when this demeaning and unrepeatable transatlantic mud wrestle is over, the important decisions cannot be taken by the top dog at British Airways or football-illiterate American speculators. When the ownership is sorted out Liverpool can start the more exciting business of sorting out the team. The catharsis began in court and will complete its work on the Anfield pitch. It will obey no restraining order.LiverpoolBusinessPaul Haywardguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Fabio Capello to tap into Under-21s talent in bid to turn England's fortunes around England manager planning to play Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Theo Walcott in November friendly against France. telegraph.co.uk |
Barcelona routs Mourinho's Madrid 5-0 David Villa scored twice as Barcelona ripped apart Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid in a 5-0 rout Monday to go top of the league thanks to a record ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |