I'm still getting the hang of this blogging thing. So far, I either end up with 10 ideas for what to write about or none - and the 10 can end up producing zilch as well as I can't decide which to use. So if you see big gaps in dates on here, this will be why - just letting you in on the process as it's bound to happen again and again!

Anyway, another international week gone by - thankfully once in which Torres didn't get crocked for a change - and another two home games to look forward to. We continue rolling along and I've no reason to think that Fulham tomorrow won't be a good three points earned - no disrespect meant as they're doing alright so far this season. But even minus Stevie G., we are more than a match for them. I think you can pretty much pick the starting 11 yourself if you're playing along at home.

Which brings me inadvertently to ... not all that long ago, with a midweek Champions League match, we knew we'd see wholescale changes in the league match immediately before. How times have changed. The league is undoubtedly the priority this year - I've always questioned when it wasn't. In my mind, the difference this year that makes it a realistic goal vs a pipedream is the confluence of a few events:

• Established starters with another year's worth of invaluable physical and mental experience behind them - they know what's expected in both mind and body, and are better able to deal with those demands


• Half of the squad returning to Merseyside full of confidence after picking up baubles of some color/size this summer


• Two great signings in Keane and Riera, both players with prior Premiership experience who were able to hit the ground running; and


• The backroom staff additions of Sammy Lee and Mauricio Pellegrino amongst others - the sense of a true "red machine" incorporating all parts of the playing and training personnel is palpable.

The foundations are in place and the parts required to execute the plan are stronger than ever, so what's to chop and change on anywhere near the scale as was needed for basic survival in past seasons?

Anyway, should be a good one tomorrow and always nice to see Super Dan, even if his departure from the club wasn't the most pleasant. He'll always get a decent welcome at Anfield.

I hope to put something else up (or modify this one) before Turkey Day and a much-needed vacation but if not....have a good one and come on you Reds.

The audacity of hope...

I am a cynic by nature - anyone who knows me can vouch for that! Not that I don't want to believe the best of people and situations ... I absolutely do. I know it's just the way I deal with the possibility of the worst happening - like it will make things hurt less.

Well, the cynic - for a few days anyway - has been well and truly humbled.

I don't mean to get political, nor will I attempt to make too many comparisons between 22 very well-paid guys kicking a ball around and millions of people of all physical, social and economic stripes turning out (and in) to participate in the single most important event of my lifetime ... how the hell could you?!

I just know that I worried incessantly that things would not go as I or we (many of us anyway) hoped. And my refuge from the "real world" - our game against Atletico - up until that 94th minute, was feeling like a sorry harbinger for what to expect later that evening.

I admit - I was bricking it.

But lo and behold:

WHAM! ... the ref gives a penalty (ssh back there) - Stevie slots it home!

SOCKO! ... Florida and Ohio go blue! and;

BOFFO! ... Pennsylvania and Virginia do too! Election called - even on Fox News!

REE-EEE-FRIGGIN'-SULTS!!

One was down to near flawless execution from start to finish, the other - well, not so much. But both were undeniably the by-product of hard work, graft and never giving up when the odds seemed insurmountable.

There's still a lot to be done on both fronts...both are still near the beginning of their respective journeys. And while it's easy to point out what did (or could) go wrong, the Reds are still joint top of the league and joint top of their Champions League group.


And a man who most thought didn't stand a chance in hell of getting near the presidency will be in the White House come January.


Holding on to hope? Audacious as hell. But by gosh, it sure does feel good.

You betcha!

The week ahead...

After the week behind...



I admit I am still disappointed by Saturday's result against Tottenham. Some will say it was preordained that Harry's men would take points off the league leaders - us! - but I don't know if I believe all that. We were all over them. The goals were a bit on the jammy side. But it can't help but feel that we threw it away...

But I object to the fact that some people want to paint anyone feeling that way as being a gloom-and-doom merchant. Who doesn't know that we hadn't lost in ages and we played some of the best football so far this season? And of course I don't think "Oh my god, we're doomed I tell ye, doomed!"

We've very much still on the march. But when Spurs stepped up in that last 20 minutes (as they did against Arsenal), I feel we didn't respond in kind - that's what hurt. Particularly as our strength so far has been giving 150% until the final whistle was blown. Of course you have days where things just go against you, but this wasn't that. That was Stoke.

In any event, onwards and upwards. It's now about how we respond and looking ahead. We have Atletico at Anfield to look forward to tomorrow night, when we can claim our place in the round of 16 with two games to spare. Hopefully Fernando will get a run out in front of the followers of his former club that travelled over, and a chance to shine in front of the ones of his current club that adore him. A chance for the boys to make right what they know was a wasted opportunity at White Hart Lane. And here in NY, a chance to say goodbye to an 11th Street stalwart before he makes the move Down Under - we'll miss you, Kev!

Oh, and there's the little matter of electing a new leader for this country as well. As much as I obsess over my beloved Reds, a result on that front tomorrow night will be the one that truly counts - both here and far beyond.

Come to think of it, if a loss to Spurs is the only thing I have to be disappointed by this week, I'll be absolutely thrilled.

Come on you Redmen!
(And come on you black man!)