Anti Halsey comments unacceptable

It has been reported on the BBC website that Mark Halsey has made a complaint to the police. It comes as he received comments linked to suffering from cancer via twitter. Some have referred to him dying of cancer. Frankly I find this extremely disgusting. Whilst we may not agree with decisions a referee makes during the game, it doesn't mean that anyone can make sick comments about cancer. Talk about the game yes and I'm sure many referees will accept the stick that they get from the games from bad decisions. 

Cancer is not a pleasant illness, for those who suffer or the families that have to cope with it and therefore to go onto a social forum and aim bile at someone who may or may not have made the right decision is completely unacceptable. Many of us have often slated the ref making a poor decision, it's all part of the job. None of us fans who are decent would have even thought about using personal insults or things relating to an illness.

Whilst I always been a person who believes in freedom of speech, even this cannot be acceptable for such a line. I hope those who have resorted to such pathetic behaviour will face the consequences for such behaviour. These fans are not reflective of the whole fans of Liverpool FC and hope that the majority of fans will condemn the actions of yet another minority of morons taking one step too far.

Hillsborough - The Truth At Last

I'm sure all of those who were around that fateful day will remember what they were doing. That Saturday afternoon on April 15th 1989. It was FA Cup Semi Final Day, one of the big days on the domestic football calendar. It should have been two sets of fans enjoying a fantastic day out watching Liverpool play Nottingham Forest for a place in Wembley. Sadly that day would be remembered for all the wrong reasons. It was the day 95 innocent football fans died. It would later become 96. It should have been a day when one set of fans would be celebrating a big day out in London but the game would be irrelevant as fans did their best to help fellow supporters to escape the crushing that had taken place in the Leppings Lane end. 

That day would not be deemed as a tragic disaster, it would be the start of a long fight to get names cleared, reputations cleared and ultimately the truth. The truth that would be denied for 23 years. As a Liverpool fan, it was wanting to see the truth of what had happened, wanting to see the families of the victims get the justice that they so deserved, their brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, nieces and nephews etc. These individuals who had just wanted to enjoy the club that they loved so much. For 23 years they would be seen as victims from drunken disgraceful Liverpool fans without tickets.

The reality of it was that the emergency services failed to act, they ignored pleas for help, pushed away as though their concerns didn't matter. Had the police reacted differently instead of seeing it as crowd trouble, many more lives could have been saved. It was not just the emergency services who should have been answering questions. The local council and the Football Association should have never allowed this stadium host this match let alone try and give Liverpool FC, which would have had a bigger fan base, the smaller end than the Forest end which had space.

It was not just the emergency services that Liverpool FC and it's fans were battling against. It was the media and certain newspapers that opted to jump on the bandwagon. To deflect the blame onto the fans would no doubt be easy pickings.  There had been trouble at Euro 88 the year before, so I imagine what better way than to focus the blame on the fans. This is just my opinion but during the 80's it was not the best time for English football abroad. Decent football fans of English clubs had already suffered once and didn't need to suffer again.

The police it would seem were more interested in pinning the blame elsewhere, questions regarding drinking being the notable ones aimed at those who had died. The disgusting thing being that many of the fans were youngsters and just out to support their team. That didn't stop there as the police would falsify accounts and move the real problem away from themselves.

Of course the police are not the only ones to blame. The Football Association and the local council and it would seem Sheffield Wednesday, must take their fair share. It would seem that Hillsborough was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. As far back as 1981 in an FA Cup Semi Final featuring Tottenham and Wolves, there were incidents. Recommendations were made and because of the cost, they were not implemented. Had they been in place, the Hillsborough Disaster would more than likely never have happened.

On a personal note as a Liverpool fan, I have found myself at times having to defend Liverpool supporters who on that day did more to help than anything. Defending the fact that the 96 didn't deserve to die, that the families of the 96 didn't need to be fighting for the truth when it could have come out. I may have not been directly affected, but as so many untruths were out there the reality had to be shared even if people wanted to ignore it. Now myself and other Liverpool fans and indeed many fans of other clubs who have wanted to see justice will also not have to defend the facts to those who swallowed the untruths.

To those families and groups that pushed and pushed, we salute you. Your determination to get the truth is admirable. You didn't want anything but the truth and finally it is here. Your journey is almost over. Only once people have been brought to justice it is when you can truly relax.

 You'll Never Walk Alone

Justice For the 96

Transfer deadline day - The fall out

It would sometimes seem that whatever you do in the summer, it counts for nothing unless you find that last minute transfer on transfer deadline day. Some Arsenal fans maybe thinking why didnt they sign anyone..well I think Podolski and Giroud do count for something. Wenger was involved during deadline day as Bendtner got a loan deal to Juventus. I wonder how long before he permanently leaves Arsenal.  The Dane was one of a few players to leave Arsenal on loan.

Man City players could feel reasonably happy after transfer deadline day, Javi Garcia, Maicon, Nastasic, Scott Sinclair and Richard Wright....Yes Richard Wright, the former England goalkeeper. Now they'll have to do a bit of commercial selling to get the income and stay inside the Financial Fairplay rules if they dont want to find themselves kicked out the Champions League in seasons to come.

The biggest fall out no doubt came at Liverpool, on the evening before Andy Carroll was allowed to go on loan to West Ham, a deal that had previously been seemingly shot down. Rodgers did attempt to bring in players but it was not to be. The club did allow players to leave either permanently or on loan and it led to the cut in the wage bill. The Clint Dempsey saga came to an end as the USA international made his way to Spurs for £6 million. Despite the signing by Spurs, Fulham still seem intent on taking forward a complaint for Liverpool's pursuit of Dempsey. The club believe that Liverpool did wrong. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out, but seeing as nothing came from it, I'd hardly see what value they get from it.

Spurs of course were busy themselves. They not only acquired Dempsey but French No1 goalkeeper Hugo Lloris who joined for £12 million. Day's after the arrival of the Frenchman Andre Villas-Boas stated that the new arrival would not be guaranteed first team football and I assume that he would have to battle with Freidel, Cudicini and Gomez. Naturally it would appear Lloris would not be impressed, but we do see that this is Andre Villas Boas and he seems to have previous at upsetting players. Giving that Lloris has only been here a few days, this could quite end up being a record.

Andy Carroll who made his debut on the Saturday pulled his hamstring and it would seem that he will be out for 6 weeks. Just to be honest what West Ham didnt want after taking a risk in him.