Make no mistake - Mo Johnston needs to make more than a few good player acquisitions this winter in order to improve TFC. However, the decision that will have the deepest impact on The Reds will be who Johnston hires to manage the team. There are high expectations from the supporters but betting on a big name may not be smart.

Bit of a slow day, news wise, really, but there has been some board room news lately that I thought I'd take a crack at. Chelsea fans are still livid at the poor refereeing from yesterday, and I'm pretty sure someone from Chelsea just got another yellow card. There were some bad decisions made, and Chelsea were the better team.

Players report back to London today, and hopefully by the end of today or early tomorrow we'll have an inventory of who picked up knocks playing in internationals. At the moment, the only one I've heard is Gael Clichy, who injured his thigh playing for France yesterday. This must have frustrated Wenger, who was actually commentating on the match for French television, noted that Clichy was hurt and should be substituted, only to watch him struggle through to the end of the game.

Arsenal v AZ
by nineinchmail

There's not much else to say other than that that was a sublime performance by Arsenal. The trophy draught is frustrating, but honestly, when Arsenal plays like they did last night, dominating another club through sheer skill, technique, and teamwork, it just reminds me how lucky I am to root for Arsenal.

So Utd ground out a two-nil at home to lowly Portsmouth and it was another less than convincing performance by them.
This gives me some optimism in the run-in, they have to slip up against Spurs on Saturday.
Thankfully, Chelsea drew nil-nil with Everton at Stamford Bridge to keep them three points behind us.

No posts for a couple of days, I know. It's mainly been because there hasn't been that much noteworthy to report. Frankly, there's still not that much noteworthy to report, but I'm bored at work and you can't stop me.

First off, Manchester United's win yesterday puts them a mere point from the title.

Liverpool's shaky start to the season poses a fresh threat to the American ownership of the club.
Tom Hicks and George Gillett Junior's business model depends on Champions League qualification.
Just three weeks into a campaign which began with grand hopes of securing the title, key Anfield figures are gravely concerned about fending off the top four bids of Manchester City and Spurs.

Arsenal Holdings, PLC just released a summary of the financial results for last season. It all seems to be good news, and it sounds like the club improved in pretty much every financial category over 2007-2008:

Overall income increased to £313.3 million from £223.0 million the year before, largely due to deep cup runs and increased merchandise sales
Overall matchday/ticket revenue increased to £100.

With arms aloft, scarf tied tightly round his neck and celebrating with the Kop, the iconic image of Bill Shankly has become what defines Liverpool Football Club.
The benchmark for any future manager, player, member of the backroom or supporter, and what they strive towards, was raised to unprecedented heights as the man from Glenbuck realised his managerial potential to unleash a new era in British and European football.