The clown is leaving Liverpool FC

Power struggles have become the norm at our club over the last year or so, the latest casulty is Rick Parry who has decided 'by mutual consent' to leave the club at the end of this season. Normally when someone leaves LFC, I like to look back on their career and focus on the more positive aspects.

However, for some reason or other, I can't really think of anything positive to say about Rick Parry. Maybe it's just a mind block, I don't know, but I'm open to any suggestions you may have.

It looks like our title dreams might be over

This is a painful realisation but after yesterdays draw with Manchester City, it has become apparent that we probably don't have what it takes to win the Premier League this season. Sure it's still mathematically possible but it's also psychologically improbable that the lads will turn it on enough.

We've only got 12 games left and we're relying on Manchester United to drop at least 8 points more than us over the last 12 games. Things can change quickly in football, and maybe in a few weeks time (after beating ManUre at their home) we might have cause for optimism again.

Lucas or Aurelio for the midfield position

It's great that the international break is coming to an end, but I wonder who will get to partner Mascherano in midfield. With Alonso suspended and Gerrard still injured, Rafa doesn't have too many other credible options for the match against Manchester City this weekend.

The fact remains that Rafa rates Lucas very highly and there's a strong possibility that Rafa will start him. If that's the case then I hope we get to see one of his more accomplished performances. Love him or loathe him, Lucas is capable of playing well.

But there's also other options available. Aurelio had an excellent game in midfield against Portsmouth, and if Rafa were to take a chance with him again, we might get to see the exciting talent of Insua at left back again. This I would imagine is the preferred option for many Reds fans.

Youth players preferred to Voronin return

Well if Rafa thinks Keane wasn't good enough for Liverpool to the extent that he was willing to ship him out so soon, then I think Voronin's offer to shore up our striking department is likely to fall on deaf ears. In fact, I think he would have already been recalled from his loan with Hertha Berlin, if Rafa felt he was good enough (but let's face it, he didn't exactly settle very well).

While I'm no fan of Rafa's decision to ship Keane out so soon, I do look on this as a golden opportunity for some of the youth players, as opposed to a jaded senior player. Ngog has already had some playing time, but it's Nemeth who I really hope is given a chance in the first team, as he comes across as having far more potential than Ngog.

Guess we'll have to sweat it over Gerrard

The one thing I hate about the likes of the FA Cup (I now rate it about as highly as the Carling Cup) is the risk it poses to our senior players. In the 3rd round it was Alonso we lost to injury. Sure enough the 4th round replay with Everton had it's own victim (plus we lost 1-0).

Gerrard is the latest star player to be injured in a 'seemingly meaningless' game. The poor lad only lasted a quarter of an hour before being subbed after straining his hamstring. Hopefully it doesn't turn out too serious and we'll have him back in time for the upcoming clash with Real Madrid [link].

No more f**king Keano thanks to politics

The ongoing power struggles at LFC have really become such a bore with it now culminating in Robbie Keane being prematurely sold at a huge loss. Rafa has been trying to throw his weight around LFC for some time now, and was the driving force behind getting rid of Keane. It was highly irresponsible of Rafa to sell him like that without getting any replacement in.

Rafa has purchased many flops over the years and given them much more of an opportunity to prove themselves than he did with Keane. What's worse is that when it looked like he was finding the kind of form we signed him for, he ended up being frozen out. Not very smart Rafa.

Yes Liverpool is probably better in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but only when Torres & Gerrard are both fit, there's not much of a backup plan if one of them isn't. Our club has now been left weakened by Keanes departure and we're now relying a sizeable dose of luck if we want to win the Premier League this season.

Doing the double over Chelsea feels great

First things first, our performance from start to finish was fully deserving of a victory. Everyone played their part in controlling the game, and thanks to the brilliance of Torres that victory was ensured with 2 well taken goals. No doubt his buddha-like goal celebration will live on in memory.

The red card shouldn't be allowed to detract from the victory, true Lampard shouldn't have been sent off for his tackle on Alonso, but Bosingwa should have been sent off for his disgraceful kick on Benayoun (who was superb and changed the game). I look on it as karma doing its thing, as these types of decisions have a tendancy to balance out over time.

Beating Chelsea, was precisely the kind of result we needed after a run of poor results [link]. Can you imagine what a confidence booster this must be for the team ? If this result doesn't propel the team on a winning streak, I don't know what will, but you can sense the title is still within our grasp.