Jonty

I haven't read back through the thread, but am I the only one who thinks that that red card was absurd? Or that the commentator bleated on the entire game about Costa being lucky he didn't also get red for what was essentially a bit of grab and shove which was reciprocated by the defender who didn't even get a booking? Either way, fair play to WBA, they played well and we didn't.

dammit I came in to post this exact comment.

Fair play to Phil Jones for sticking his head in there, not many would have had the balls or quick thinking to do it. Almost JT-esque.

Rivalries are the foundation of football and sport in general, but every time one rival leaves another one will take their place. For example, it's only a matter of time until the FSW comes back to England, and Pep may come at some point soon too. They can more than make up for the loss of Slippy and Rio.

yep. "greatest there is, greatest there was, greatest there ever will be" and can't make it into his own managers EPL XI.

The universe where they win it right after Gerrard leaves. But yes come to think of it that point of humor would be dwarfed by the horror.

That kid is the one that deserves a guard of honor.

Does anyone else think it would almost be funny if Liverpool won the league next season.

As I elaborated on in previous pages my lack of "recognition" of Gerrard has nothing to do with my personal dislike of him, it's because I was able to think of 13 better players in his same position in his same generation within about 30 seconds. So, being at best the 14th best player in his position over the last 15 years, I merely wonder what he has done to justify this media circus and even worse, the rewriting of history in the media (that you seem to have fallen for) that he was some great player when in reality he was a big fish in a small pond who had one legendary half (not even a full game, just a second half).

I'd say the key difference is that Gerrard tried to leave and Terry didn't, which is essentially the fundamental point.

What's rare, being forced to stay at a club you tried to leave via family threats?

Which of the 13 players I mentioned would you take Gerrard over out of curiosity?

Kaka in his prime was arguably the best player in the world, Gerrard in his prime was never top 5. In terms of longevity yes Gerrard has far exceeded Kaka but then again so has pretty much everyone. No two players do the exact same thing, it's a matter of personal preference as to how specific you want to be in terms of role, but all the players I named were center midfielders. If I were building a team and was offered any of those 14 midfielders (the 13 I mentioned + Gerrard) in their prime with which to base my midfield around, Gerrard would be my 14th choice every time. edit: Actually i'm not sure that Pirlo's game is well suited to the PL, so if it were for a PL team I MIGHT take prime Gerrard over prime Pirlo, but thats as far as I could stretch.

Boring, boring Southampton.

Fowler's 21 year old record has been broken, a good omen ahead of Slippy's last game tonight.

Lampard Scholes Ballack Makelele Iniesta Xavi Pirlo Xabi Alonso Schweinsteiger Kaka If you can call the likes of Viera, Keane and Zidane of the same era, they are also obviously above him. There are probably more i've neglected to mention too.

Not even in the top 10 players in his position of his generation, not a top top player for me.

This does not f**king slip now!

If he hadn't gone to City he'd be getting a better send off, not much sympathy for him in that regard.

At this stage I think we should just stop giving it out to people.

Source on that? Would be nice to see him again though.

You wouldn't pay more than 40 million for a Zidane, Iniesta or Lampard in their prime?

Pogba. Pogba - Matic - Fabregas Title done and dusted for a few years right there.

If Pogba or Bale are actually options then i'd very much support us sounding out PSG as to a bid for Oscar, if we can get around the 30m mark for him and Pogba comes for say around double that, it would be some very shrewd business.