Liverpool Football Club

Liverpool Football Club Blog.

What a strange summer it’s turning out to be at Liverpool Football Club.

All I ever seem to here every morning is rumours of Stevie G leaving, Fernando Torres leaving, Mascherano leaving. It’s like rats fleeing a sinking ship if it all comes true. Benayoun already has! I might flee it myself and go support Marine AFC.

We’ve brought in a new manager (Roy Hodgson) who is hopefully going to steady the ship for us but I can really only see him as a short term replacement for Rafa Benitez. Once Hicks and Gillette finally sell the club (fingers crossed) I imagine the new owners will want to splash the cash a bit (toes are now crossed) and is Roy really the man to do this? Can he convince the world’s elite playing stars to come to a team without Champions League football or any real chance of winning the English Premier League within the next 5 years.

After the season we had I just had to get away from it all so went on a self catering lake district holiday with my much better half, or so she keeps telling me. We had a cracking time and came back fully refreshed after staying in a beautiful holiday cottage in Eskdale. We were then nicely hyped for the World Cup, that failed to live up to expectation as well. This is what it must feel like to be a Middlesbrough fan all the time!

Anyway, I digress. Roy really has his job cut out, he has to convince all our top players to stay, encourage others to come and join the mad house and somehow get an extra 50% out of the rest of the squad, Dirk Kuyt not included. I’ll be happy if we can challenge for a Champions League spot next season.

I’ve had to learn over the last 12 months not to get so wound up about it all but sometimes it’s just so difficult. It is only football after all! (can’t believe I just said that)

How I Fell In Love with............

How I Fell In Love with Real Ale

I’ve never been one to be swayed by advertising (or so I like to think), but one really did hit home many a moon ago while I was at my university.

I’m from Liverpool originally and spent my first 18 years there before heading down south to attend Oxford (cough) University, I think most parents used the (cough) when pronouncing the Brookes part of Oxford Brookes University, alternatively they just used to tell their friends that their golden child was studying in Oxford. I was always proud that I studied at Brookes university, just the fact that a university accepted me was an acheivement in itself so to disrespect it by not giving it it’s full title never seemed fair to me.

Anyway, I’m rambling, it was during these university years that I found real ale. I was used to drinking fizzy odd coloured water, also known as lager, and it was while standing at the bar of my local drinking establishment I noticed a poster advert on the wall of a Goblin sneering at me and asking the question ‘What’s wrong Lager boy, afraid you might taste something?’ ......... I took it as a challenge and thought I’d try these new ales described as ‘guests’ as if just passing through and didn’t fancy taking up residence, to be fair judging by the locals I wouldn’t have fancied hanging around either and I was one of them! So there I tried my first pint of real ale, I remember it quite clearly it was called Monkey Wrench and packed a hell of a punch after the 3^rd pint. Thinking about it someone may well have just punched me, I was quite obnoxious as most students tend to be in those formative years.

I fell in love with ales after that, so many different types, sweet ales, bitter ales, light ales, dark ales, summer ales, winter ales (ales for all seasons in fact), you just don’t get this sort of choice with any other drink that comes in a pint glass (unless you’re Charlie from my old local who used to drink wine by the pint).

I discovered my favourite pint of ale while on a self catering lake district holiday with a few of my friends while we where climbing the mighty Scafell Pike, ‘Cross Buttock’ of the Jennings Brewery has brought me nothing but joy since my first taste, sweet, malty and full. It get’s it’s name from a Cumberland Wrestling move........Cumberland Wrestling..... now that’s another story.