thats it, the curse of the anfield rejects have struck again! first it was Redknapp, then Anelka, Berger and now GOD Robbie Fowler. GH, open your eyes wide and see what's happening to the players you have sold. Btw...did david thompson scored against us as well? Match Report - Manchester City 2 Liverpool 2 Robbie Fowler saved his best for last as Manchester City snatched a 2-2 draw in injury time against Liverpool. Fowler's afternoon looked like ending in misery after the former Anfield hero spurned a string of chances against the team he served with such distinction. Vladimir Smicer and Dietmar Hamann had combined to set up an unlikely victory for the Reds, who were outplayed for much of the contest. But Fowler refused to let his head drop and when Trevor Sinclair acrobatically screwed a shot in his direction in the final minute of injury time, the former England striker turned the ball home amid furious Liverpool protests for offside. The afternoon looked like ending in victory for City when Nicolas Anelka fired home from the penalty spot after Fowler had been fouled by John Arne Riise. Twice in the opening 10 minutes Fowler should have put City in front. Firstly he seemed to forget where the goal was as he fired straight, but wide, from Shaun Wright-Phillips' cross. Then he scooped over from a central position just eight yards out. The penalty boosted Kevin Keegan's men, although Liverpool did rally towards the end of the opening period and David Seaman was forced into his first meaningful save when he turned a Danny Murphy volley round in stoppage time. The loss of Steven Gerrard after an hour would normally be considered a negative for Liverpool but the limping Reds skipper had made a minimal impact, so El Hadji Diouf's introduction provided some missing impetus. Emile Heskey had already failed with one headed effort when he dragged himself above the mediocre once more to sting Seaman's hands with an angled effort midway through the second half. The corner proved to be City's undoing as the mass of their players remained rooted to the spot, allowing Smicer to supply the final touch to a ball which Seaman was unable to claw back as it bobbled over the line. Then Claudio Reyna nodded the second of two poor Murphy crosses into Hamann's path and the German dispatched his first-time volley into the top corner with venom. The City supporters started streaming away, consigned to yet another defeat. Fowler's last-gasp effort told them they should have stayed. source: Ananova

Match Report - Liverpool 3 Bolton 1 Liverpool took the heat off manager Gerard Houllier with a 3-1 win over Bolton at Anfield. Sami Hyypia had settled early nerves with a powerful header past Jussi Jaaskelainen in the first half. Two more headed goals in the opening minutes of the second period from Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Vladimir Smicer gave Liverpool some much-needed breathing space. Substitute Henrik Pedersen pulled a late goal back for Bolton, but they were unable to end a record which has seen them fail to win a league match at Anfield for 50 years. The only shot for either side early on was a 20-yard free-kick by Steven Gerrard which flew into Jaaskelainen's arms after a foul by Emerson Thome on Sinama-Pongolle. Liverpool were enjoying a period of dominance and a swirling free-kick from John Arne Riise saw Vladimir Smicer send a glancing header inches wide, before Hyypia had a 12-yard drive blocked by Simon Charlton following a Gerrard corner. Liverpool's greater attacking desire produced a goal for Hyypia after 30 minutes. Kevin Davies' block stopped Kewell's cross and from Danny Murphy's corner, the big defender powered into the box to send a soaring header crashing past Jaaskelainen. Sinama-Pongolle should have given Liverpool some breathing space when Smicer sent him clear, but he snatched at his shot and gave Jaaskelainen the chance to block the effort. The youngster made up for that miss a minute after the break. Riise got away down the left and when his cross came into the six-yard box, the Frenchman evaded his markers to bullet a header past Jaaskelainen. Liverpool grabbed their third after 54 minutes. Per Frandsen had been booked for a nasty foul on Gerrard and from Murphy's free-kick, Smicer ran into the six-yard box unmarked to head home. Nicky Hunt was booked for bringing down Riise in full flow and Liverpool replaced Smicer with Anthony Le Tallec before Murphy was able to lift the free-kick into the box. Gerrard lunged forward to send the ball over the bar. With five minutes left Pedersen scored from close range after Liverpool had failed to clear Ricardo Gardner's cross-shot. source: Ananova

Cisse wants Anfield move Liverpool starlet Florent Sinama-Pongolle says that Auxerre striker and long-time Reds target Djibril Cisse 'wouldn't say no' to a move to Anfield. Cisse has attracted intrest from Gerard Houllier for a couple of years now and if reports are to be believed, then the French striker will be a Liverpool player before the start of next season and Pongolle says that's something that the Auxerre forward would like to happen. He told LFC Magazine: "If he comes it will be good news. With his physical qualities and his impressive speed, he could really do some damage." "I have known players who can run quickly, but not like him! I think that in view of the open football which is played in England, he would do very well. " "We have spoken about Liverpool, and he would really like to come here. He confirmed to me that he wouldn't say no if the opportunity arose." source: shankly gates

Merry Christmas and a Happy New 2004 to all out there... have not been blogging for quite some time cos i was away on holiday. k...will summarize whats been happening in anfield in a couple of blogs to come.

'Heroes of Anfield' ... Robbie Fowler In this week's 'Heroes of Anfield', we take a look at Robbie Fowler aka GOD by all liverpudlians. In last week's Manchester derby, Fowler reminded all his loyalty to liverpool by showing 4 fingers to manure's supporters, indicating to them Liverpool's more superior European Cup record. Most liverpudlians were very touched by his action. Therefore, i write this blog in tribute to the King of KOP - GOD Robbie Fowler! The Very Best of Robbie Fowler Lets savour some great moments in the life and career of the man we shall surely one day call Sir Robert Fowler... 1) Scoring five goals on his home debut - in the 5-0 League Cup win over Fulham in 1993. When asked how he celebrated this feat, he said: "After the Fulham game, I went round the chippy with my mates and got a big kiss from my mum when I got home!" Awwwwww! 2) Lifting his shirt to reveal a t-shirt displaying the words 'Support The 500 Sacked Dockers' during a UEFA Cup tie - earning the respect of the working classes but the wrath of UEFA with a £1,000 fine. But even they began their letter: 'It might seem strange and even unfair…' 3) Responding to Evertonian taunts that he "had a friend called Charles" by getting down on all fours to simulate the snorting of the white line marking on the pitch. This was made even more glorious by Gerard Houllier's explanation that Robert was merely "pretending to be a cow eating grass". The bods at the FA were not quite so naive and gave him a four-match ban. 4) Cutting up a pair of Neil Ruddock's £300 Gucci shoes after being told that the hard man had urinated in his shoes. Ruddock punched him in the nose in a crowded airport and Steve Harkness was later revealed to be the peeing prankster. 5) Maturely reacting to a running battle with Graeme Le Saux by leaning over in front of the Chelsea defender and parting his butt cheeks in reference to Le Saux's alleged homosexuality. His japes cost him a two-match ban. 6) Showing rare sportsmanship for a footballer by pleading with the referee not to punish David Seaman when he was adjudged to have been brought down by the Arsenal keeper in the box at Highbury. Fowler's pleas were ignored but he made himself a lot of friends by taking a weak penalty that was easily saved. Jason McAteer had no such reservations and banged in the rebound. Fowler got a commendation from FIFA for his actions. McAteer did not. 7) Getting himself arrested just days after joining Leeds when a photographer attempted to take pictures of the drunken, sleeping Fowler clad in military uniform and holding a replica gun while on a Christmas party. A previous festive gathering had seen Fowler having to be persuaded not to go as 'the gimp from Pulp Fiction'. 8) Scoring a hat-trick in four minutes 32 seconds against Arsenal in 1994 - just to prove that 'The Best of Robbie Fowler' sometimes is about the football. 9) When asked in a Loaded magazine interview about his chat-up techniques, revealed that his favourite was: "Do you like jewels? You should suck my dick - it’s a gem." 10) Trashing the room of England Under-21 colleague Trevor Sinclair 'for a laugh'. Funnily enough, Sinclair did not get the joke. Some people have no sense of humour... source: http://mrankin.home.cern.ch/mrankin/Robbie.htm

Match Report- Liverpool 1 Southampton 2 An out-of-sorts Liverpool side slid to a 2-1 defeat to Southampton at Anfield. Brett Ormerod scored for the Saints after just 72 seconds and they doubled that lead on 64 minutes through a Michael Svensson header. Even a late rally and an even later Emile Heskey goal failed to get Liverpool back into the game. Southampton boss Gordon Strachan stuck with the players that beat Charlton last weekend and his side went ahead from a cleared Liverpool corner. Claus Lundekvam cleared the danger from deep in his own half to send Ormerod away. With Liverpool's central defenders both caught upfield from the corner, Dietmar Hamann was exposed and Ormerod raced away before shooting past Chris Kirkland from 12 yards. Jon Otsemobor made some enterprising runs on the right and created headed chances for Vladimir Smicer and El Hadji Diouf - but Liverpool lacked inspiration. Smicer's surge into the box on 30 minutes ended with him hitting the ground in front of the Kop after colliding with Lundekvam, but referee Paul Durkin waved away appeals for a penalty. Liverpool's best first-half effort came from Otsemobor's approach play when he produced a flighted ball into the box and Danny Murphy flicked a shot just over. Southampton lost Lundekvam with an ankle injury, Chris Marsden going on and Danny Higginbotham moving into central defence. The visitors had a great chance to double their lead on 50 minutes when James Beattie raced into space on the left, leaving Igor Biscan stranded. His cross fell to Marian Pahars on the edge of the box but the Latvian lifted his shot wide. Beattie was lucky not to concede a penalty after flattening Diouf in the box from behind a minute later but the striker should have scored on 55 minutes when Kirkland palmed his firm header away. A minute later Liverpool introduced Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Anthony Le Tallec and it produced an initial spark. Smicer surged through on the left to see his shot blocked, with the ball breaking to Sinama-Pongolle, whose effort was turned away by Antti Niemi. From the resulting corner, Sami Hyypia climbed to send in a header which was kicked off the line by Jason Dodd. But Southampton went down the other end and doubled their lead when Svensson powerfully headed Jason Dodd's corner past Kirkland and into the roof of the net off Smicer. Liverpool poured forward and Otsemobor and Gerrard had both forced saves from Niemi when Heskey gave the home side hope when he stabbed the ball into an empty net with 15 minutes to go. Higginbotham had to hack a goalbound Sinama-Pongolle effort off the line on 79 minutes. Niemi then saved a Heskey header from Gerrard's cross, but it would have been an injustice had the Saints been robbed at the death. source: Ananova

Reds drawn to play Levski Sofia Liverpool will play Levski Sofia in the third round of the UEFA Cup following the draw in Nyon, Switzerland earlier this afternoon. The Bulgarians beat Israeli side Hapoel Ramat Gan in the previous round 5-0 on aggregate and are currently fourth in their domestic league. The ties will take place on 26 February and 3 March, with Liverpool provisionally drawn to play at home in the first leg. Liverpool's two Uefa Cup rounds so far have involved long trips to Slovenia against Olimpija Ljubljana and Romania to face Steaua Bucharest and now a second-leg visit to Bulgaria beckons. Rick Parry said: "It's another trip to eastern Europe. I think we would have preferred to play the first leg away but we will take it as it comes. "Some very good teams dropped out of the Champions League this time around so there is some tough opposition around. We'll do our best. "When we won in 2001 it was magnificent for us and we'll never forget the final against Alaves which was absolutely fantastic. As we are all about winning silverware we will try our best to go all the way." source: ic Liverpool/Teamtalk

Match Report- Newcastle 1 Liverpool 1 Liverpool had taken the lead against the run of play at St. James' Park after just six minutes. Newcastle defender Jonathan Woodgate collided with teammate Titus Bramble as he jumped with Florent Sinama-Pongolle to get the ball. Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy collected the loose ball, headed it down and poked it past advancing Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given. Newcastle was almost caught out again halfway through the first half, but Aaron Hughes cleared a Sinama-Pongolle attempt. Liverpool 'keeper Chris Kirkland came off his line to stop a Gary Speed shot and also saved attempts from Jermaine Jenas and Shola Ameobi. Early in the second half, Given punched away a Sinama-Pongolle strike, then caught a Steven Gerrard rebound attempt. Newcastle's Laurent Robert had a 30-yard (meter) free kick go inches wide in the 58th minute. Newcastle was awarded a penalty soon after when Kirkland brought down Newcastle striker Shearer, who was running with the ball in the penalty box. Kirkland was given a yellow card for arguing about the penalty with referee Graham Poll. Shearer converted in the 63rd minute, firing the ball into the top of the net while Kirkland dived the other way. Liverpool's Dietmar Hamann had a 83rd minute volleyed strike saved by a diving Given. Kirkland saved from Shearer with five minutes remaining, pushing a long range chip over the bar. Liverpool was missing injured strikers Michael Owen and Harry Kewell and made five changes to the side which that lost to Bolton in the League Cup midweek. The Reds moved to fifth in the standings, its highest rank this season. Newcastle stayed in seventh place. "It was a deserved point. There was a lot of dramatic intensity about the game and I thought we had a good response. We showed guts and character," said Houllier. "They dominated the game but we knew they would do that because we have practically half a team out with injuries. I am a happier man because I think the performance against Bolton was not satisfactory despite the fact we rotated some players. The response was full of pride and very positive and yes that makes me extremely happy and very proud of them." source: Foxsport/Sublime Football

Kewell Out For Three Weeks

Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has confirmed that Harry Kewell could be out of action until after Christmas with ankle ligament damage. The Australian international suffered the injury with the last kick of Wednesday's 3-2 Carling Cup loss to Bolton at Anfield.

Kewell, a £5million signing from Leeds in the summer, has been one of the few positives in a dismal season for the men from Merseyside, showing a keen eye for goal from his midfielder position.

"It is a blow for us. Harry took a whack on his ankle with his last kick of the game against Bolton and suffered ankle ligament damage," Houllier told the club's official website.

"He will be out for between two and three weeks. Obviously we are disappointed because Harry and Michael Owen give us a lot of attacking efficiency and we are without them both at the moment.

"Harry has done well since he has come to the club. He has provided the missing link between midfield and attack and has scored some important goals." source: ITV football/Nationwide

Match Report - Liverpool 2 Bolton Wanderers 3 Youri Djorkaeff sent Bolton into the Carling Cup quarter-finals with a penalty in the dying minutes at Liverpool. Gerard Houllier rang the changes to the team who beat Birmingham so convincingly on Sunday with Danny Murphy, Jerzy Dudek, Vladimir Smicer, John Arne Riise, Anthony Le Tallec and Jon Otsemobor all starting in a match Liverpool needed to win to extend their run in a competition they won last March. Despite insisting only yesterday that Liverpool love the League Cup, the fact that the manager rested Sami Hyypia and Dietmar Hamann completely and dropped Steven Gerrard, Harry Kewell and Florent-Sinama Pongolle to the bench was a clear signal that the trip to Newcastle and the battle for fourth place in the Premiership rate slightly higher in his list of priorities that the Carling Cup. Bolton called in Kevin Poole, Anthony Barness, Henrik Pedersen, Ricardo Gardner, Jardel, Ibrahim Ba and Emerson Thome, leaving only four of the side that beat Everton on Saturday. On paper, Bolton's reshuffle looked a lot stronger than Liverpool's with the likes of Okocha, Ivan Campo, Djorkaeff and Jardel in the side. And on four minutes they went ahead when Jardel, unmarked, headed home Djorkaeff's left-wing corner for his third goal for the club on only his third appearance in the starting line-up. Liverpool's response was a 35-yard free-kick from Riise that Poole spilled but Smicer could only lift over the bar from close range. A minute later Smicer's cross from the right was clipped inches over the bar by Emile Heskey. Le Tallec was finding it tough going against Thome up front, but he won a free-kick on the edge of the box after 25 minutes, and Riise saw another fierce drive flash over. Liverpool's first serious attack came on 25 minutes when Otsemobor raced away down the right and found Smicer, whose ball across the box was met by Le Tallec with a right-foot shot that Thome blocked in the six yard box. Another foul on Le Tallec presented Murphy with the chance to curl a 25-yard free kick just over the top on the half hour. Dudek then managed to mishandle a speculative 40-yard low drive on the run by Okocha, the ball spinning off his hands for a corner, and he somehow managed to hurt his left leg in the embarrassing incident. Bolton had been happy to defend and break, and on 43 minutes Barness' run down the right created a chance for Pedersen but he headed just wide. Campo saw an effort from the edge of the penalty area blocked two minutes into the second half, with Liverpool's attempts to get back on terms still looking punchless. Murphy's run at the heart of Bolton's defence created acres of space for El-Hadji Diouf. But his first touch was poor, and the chance was lost. Then Heskey got in a shot after a right-wing cross, and Campo rose to head away from an empty net. On 76 minutes Bolton thought they had scored a second when Djorkaeff forced the ball home after an Okocha long throw was not cleared properly. But referee Mike Riley, after at first looking to give the goal, decided that there had been a handball in the build-up. But three minutes later Bolton got one that did count after Diao had been penalised for a foul just outside the box. Okocha sent in a curling free-kick that crashed past Dudek without the keeper moving a muscle. Simon Charlton took over from Bruno N'Gotty on 83 minutes, but Liverpool were not finished. Gerrard fed Smicer through the middle, and he sent an outstanding curling shot past Poole from 25 yards. Extra time loomed but Bolton were ahead again in the 89th minute when Diao fouled Davies in the box and Djorkaeff sent the penalty off a post and past Dudek. source: Lfc Online/liverpoolfc.tv/Ananova

Match Report - Liverpool 3 Birmingham 1 Liverpool shrugged off the absence of injured superstar Michael Owen as they came from a goal down to beat Birmingham 3-1 and leapfrog over their opponents to sixth in the table. The midlanders have produced powerful, physical performances all season but they were over-powered and outplayed eventually by Gerard Houllier's much-maligned side. Behind to a Mikael Forssell goal on the half- hour mark, Liverpool could have sunk into their now familiar depths of uncertainty and indecision. But with Steven Gerrard driving them forward, they hit Birmingham with a trio of goals. Birmingham had Frenchman Christophe Dugarry back after being sidelined with a twisted knee, while keeper Maik Taylor was out with flu, Ian Bennett taking over. Liverpool were fluid and quick from the off, with Kewell heavily involved, switching wings to great effect. But there was soon a sign of things to come when Sinama-Pongolle was laid out by Damien Johnson, but despite complaints from the pitch and the dug-out, referee Neale Barry chose to ignore it. Sinama-Pongolle was a constant menace with his quick reactions and control but Birmingham, in possession, were an increasing danger through Dugarry and David Dunn, while Stan Lazaridis was able to outpace Salif Diao on the left. Birmingham then created two chances in a minute, first when Dugarry was clear after a Sami Hyypia mistake and then when Lazaridis got in a flicked header. On both occasions Chris Kirkland made outstanding saves. Birmingham's organisation and midfield running - through Stephen Clemence and Robbie Savage - restricted Liverpool's options and hurried them into errors, and the Merseysiders for a while looked unsure and slow. Then Johnson finally got himself booked on 25 minutes after bringing down Kewell. Heskey's strength in possession almost brought the breakthrough when he held off Kenny Cunningham to feed El Hadji Diouf, whose low cross was punched away from Sinama-Pongolle's lunge at full stretch by Bennett. And in the 32nd minute it was no surprise when Diao was booked for grounding Lazaridis. It proved to be a double punishment when Birmingham took the lead from the free-kick when Savage's ball in from the left found Forssell arriving unmarked on the far post to score. But Liverpool were level within two minutes. Sinama-Pongolle's twisting and turning had been a constant problem for Birmingham's central defenders, and when in the 34th minute Gerrard threaded a pass into the Frenchman's feet it produced a penalty. Sinama-Pongolle's spun and Matthew Upson lunged in and the referee pointed to the spot. Gerrard stepped up to drill home the kick. Birmingham did not know how to handle Sinama-Pongolle and in the 50th minute he robbed Upson on the line and sped away to lay the ball across initially for Heskey, who could not get a connection. The ball broke for Gerrard, whose shot was blocked by Cunningham. Four minutes later Liverpool injected some extra midfield creativity with Vladimir Smicer replacing Diouf, and Heskey moving to the right. Every challenge on Sinama-Pongolle created an incident. Gerrard went on a 50-yard surging run and was sent tumbling on the edge of the box before Kewell cut down the left to be clipped in full flight - neither instance being penalised. Dietmar Hamann was then booked for catching Savage, further enraging the Kop, but the referee was right with this one. Liverpool replaced Djimi Traore with John Arne Riise on 66 minutes, and two minutes later the Norwegian supplied an accurate ball in from the left for Kewell to dive forward and send a spectacular header wide of Bennett's right hand. Three times in as many minutes Liverpool could have settled things. First Jamie Clapham somehow managed a goal-line clearance from an Hamann header following Gerrard's corner. Then Bennett tipped over another Gerrard set- piece from 25 yards before Hyypia saw a diving header bounce inches wide from a Smicer chip into the box. Upson limped off on 75 minutes to be replaced by Olivier Tebily. Birmingham had survived the onslaught and had begun to mount attacks of their own. But two minutes later Liverpool got the third. It came from the much-maligned Heskey, and what a cracker it was. Diao hoisted a ball in from the right and Heskey jumped to take it on his chest before spinning to hook the dropping ball into the top corner. There was still time for Smicer to hit the bar from 25 yards, just to underline that Liverpool look to have come through their nightmare months. source: World Soccer News/Walk On/SportingLife