LFC

The horror, the horror. I was right to be cautious - this is a nightmare.

YNWA

Views of Christmas 2007

A lovely Danish forest
















Magnificent London - Tower Bridge
















Pretty Crimbo lights at Sloane Square
















Home - Liverpool - Georgian splendour with earthy pragmatism and liberal helpings of genius. And some cars.
















Heaven - Anfield - same thing
















My Gran - Xmas Day - WHATEVVA

No Justice

I had the chance to go to the European Cup Final and eventually decided not to, mainly because I had not attended any of the previous rounds, and would inevitably have taken the seat of someone who had, but could afford to pay less. That to me is not the action of someone who loves Liverpool FC.

Having read the press and spoken to two (separate) mates who did go, that looks like a good decision.

Rumours of charging barricades and knowingly using fake tickets now appear to be true.

This is a difficult thing to have to admit, but it seems the behaviour of some of the Liverpool fans was a disservice not just to the club, but to the memory of the 96 supporters who died at Hillsborough.

I have no doubt that the situation was handled badly - though not as bad as at Hillsborough - but we must be responsible enough to ensure the authorities are not given the chance to cock it up. We must acknowledge there is a problem with very large games abroad and the culture of 'getting in' no matter what. It is a very serious situation, which could easily end in another disaster.

Of course there is a problem with ticket allocation and with the policing, but we must look at ourselves too.

This club is about more than football. It is the greatest club in the world, and it does have the best fans in the world, in any sport. But this isn't a right. We must remain vigilant. Hillsborough is, and must always be, part of our heritage and we must never forget what really happened that day (see below). But if the memory is to be truly honoured we must also be vigilant of our own fans' behaviour at all times. Unless we acknowledge that we have a problem with the European-adventure-get-in-at-all-costs type of fan then we risk debasing this great club, and the memory of the 96.

YNWA

Liverpool lost in the Champions League Final this evening. Having outplayed Milan for most of the first half, they fell behind, and were then punished again on the break before scoring a late consolation.

In brighter news, you'll never walk alone.

You'll never walk alone

God I love watching this, the last minute is spine tingling.

Money can't buy you love

Last night was an unbelievable night. Chelsea are everything I hate about modern football, Liverpool everything that remains great. Chelsea are nouveau riche oiks, whose unprecedented, unlimited wealth from a Russian billionaire has brought them recent success. Liverpool are a people's club, a team of their City. A team people identify with in terms of the narrative of their lives.


Now we've beaten them again when it mattered most and their manager - who called us a small club - once again whinges that the best team lost. Hilarious.

But I was interested in the wider metaphor that sprang to mind last night.

The brilliant Simon Barnes drew comparisons between the clubs' two best players: Gerrard of Liverpool and Lampard of Chelsea. "Lampard changes a game by what he does. Gerrard changes it by what he is", says Barnes.

This is true. Gerrard is a man of emotion; figurehead for an emotional team in an emotional city. This is why he wins critical games at critical times with blockbusting goals - he has theatricality coursing through his veins. Lampard is a 21st century player, 'carrying his wealth and fame with a becoming ease'. This matches his team, Chelsea. They are about knowing style and sophistication, like West London itself. Passion for them is slightly uncool.

And this is where the metaphor - for me - gets interesting. For what we were watching was a clash of money against meaning. And as I watched Anfield last night, with the flags and songs, the sheer volume of a People's Club once more defying the odds, it became even clearer to me what takes priority. When it comes down to it, it's meaning that wins.

And with passion in your life, you'll never walk alone.

Class

The Mighty Reds beat Barca on away goals this evening. Benitez outmaneouvres Rijkard and we are in the last 8 again. Not only was this relatively untroubled, but there was none of the anger, recriminations, accusation and counter-accusation that went with Chelscum's matches against them.

True Class.

Barcelona away

I declined to comment on the mighty Reds' triumph in Barcelona, the irony of Bellamy and Riise scoring, the bizarre clothing of Samuel Eto'o in the stands etc, but the highlight of the night for me was one of the banners in the Liverpool end:

Reds go Catalan, Blues go Matalan

Genius.