Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has issued a rallying cry to his team-mates to stamp out poor form in next season's Premier League campaign.
Since the turn of the year the Reds have won just four and lost 10 of 17 league games, picking up 15 from a possible 51 points.
Kenny Dalglish's side host Chelsea on Tuesday facing the real prospect of finishing outside the top eight.

Tottenham Hotspur's spring tour of the lower regions of the Premier League finished in the Midlands on a frustrating note as we hammered away at Villa's massed ranks for 90 minutes without scoring from open play. Going down to ten men early in the second made only a momentary difference to the pattern of a game where we had all the ball, plenty of shots, countless corners but were unable to find that single moment of finesse to create a golden chance.

I'm sure you have all heard of the "Canary Test".

In 19th century coal mining there were no automated ventilation systems, leaving the pit workers at risk of perishing from toxic gases.

So they used to bring a caged canary down to the coalface with them. Canaries are especially sensitive to carbon monoxide and methane and would keel over dead soon after inhaling them.

I'm sure you have all heard of the "Canary Test".

In 19th century coal mining there were no automated ventilation systems, leaving the pit workers at risk of perishing from toxic gases.

So they used to bring a caged canary down to the coalface with them. Canaries are especially sensitive to carbon monoxide and methane and would keel over dead soon after inhaling them.

By Alan Duffy

Queens Park Rangers 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur Premier League 21st April 2012

Once touted as genuine title contenders, Spurs will be now be more than happy if they manage to bag a Champions League spot this season.

Normally tossing bananas is a universal symbol of racism directed toward those of a darker skin color. In this case, we can only assume Bayern Munich fans are severely concerned about Manuel Neuer's potassium intake and are proactively doing their part to help him stay healthy ahead of Euro 2012.

By Alan Duffy

Poor old Roberto Mancini has seen his megabucks Man City side blow their chances of securing a first Premier League title in recent weeks, a capitulation which has left the Italian a less than happy bunny. However, despite all the pressure and stress, Mancini was still touched when he received an unusual gift from eight-year-old City fan, Megan Kinghorn.

I suppose I better eat my words, at least for this game where Liverpool's ten men beat Blackburn Rovers 3-2 thanks to an injury-time header from Andy Carroll.
Without further ado, Liverpool's second-string raced into a 2-0 lead after 15 mins thanks to two goals from prolific midfielder Maxi Rodrigues.

Luis Suarez's late header prevented a fourth successive league defeat but it only served to paper over the cracks of another faltering Liverpool performance.
The Reds went into the game on the back of six losses in seven matches, their worst sequence for almost 60 years, and with criticism mounting on both the players and manager Kenny Dalglish.

After last weekend's capitulation to Newcastle on the heels of a frustrating series of results against clubs lurking in the relegation zone, you probably wouldn't expect days filled with positive news items. And you'd be right. Welcome to the suck...

* Ever since Jordan Hendrson arrived at the club and walked straight into the starting eleven on the right, slotting in ahead of the previous season's scoring leader without having to earn the role despite it being his less favoured position and that the man he was replacing remains a regular for the Dutch national team, there has been a widespread belief that Dirk Kuyt's time at the club has all but reached its end.

Liverpool defender Sebastian Coates is keen to adapt more to life in the Premier League and secure further first-team football for Kenny Dalglish's side.
The Uruguay international made the move to Anfield from Nacional in his homeland in the summer and has had to be patient on his debut season in England.

One of the most cacophonous reactions to this season's many managerial changeovers in the Football League followed Martin Allen's departure from Notts County and Keith Curle's installation as his successor. Here, Luke Williamson sheds light on the situation at Meadow Lane and the generally buoyant form Notts have shown since the swap.

I wrote a post this morning on Dynamo Theory that I pulled off the site for a number of reasons. Those reasons were all mine, there was no external pressure, capitulation or any kind of nefarious conspiracy. My post was based on an emotional reaction to MLS making what I wrongly thought was a toothless reaction to the actions of a small element of fans at the MLS Cup final and two other matches last season.

On these pages yesterday there was a spectacularly ill-thought-out piece suggesting that Manchester City had no chance of winning this year's Premier League.

The author's reasoning? Manchester United win it most years, so they will win it again. City don't win it most years, so they won't.

Arsene Wenger has been urged to recruit Steve Bould to be his new Arsenal No.2 once Pat Rice quits the role at the end of this season.

Arsenal legend Lee Dixon has called for his former team-mate Bould to be handed the role just a day after the Gunners were humiliated with a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of AC Milan in the Champions League.

It is hard to imagine two more unlikely Premier League bed-fellows than Mick McCarthy and Andre Villas-Boas. One a sophisticated, multi-lingual wine connoisseur; the other a former bruising Millwall centre half, born and raised in Barnsley.

But as McCarthy departed Wolves yesterday, the Portuguese may have sympathised with the muppet-faced plastic Paddy.

By Chris Wright

After they were well and truly trounced 5-1 at home by West Brom yesterday, a result that put them back in the bottom three, Wolves have sacked Mick McCarthy an announcement that I actually expected to come before close of play yesterday truth be told.

A week away from the blog.
I'd like to explain my absence with exciting tales of derring do. But I can't. The most excitement I got was watching Hibs beat Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup, nailbiting to the end.
No, I've been away largely because I couldn't be arsed for the last week.

By Alan Duffy

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-3 Liverpool Premier League 31st January 2012

Liverpool boosted their top four chances with an impressive victory over Wolves at Molineux on Tuesday night, while Andy Carroll celebrated the first anniversary of his move to Merseyside with a much-needed goal.

By Alan Duffy

After watching his side throw away a two-goal in a bizarre seven-minute second-half capitulation at the Emirates, Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish is apparently desperate for some kind of retribution, with Arsenal captain Robin Van Persie firmly in his sights.

Yohan Cabaye is used to winning things and when he was at Lille last season they won both the French Cup along with the French League Title. Yohan Cabaye no excuses at Brighton Yohan apologized earlier in the week for the dreadful capitulation in the second half at Fulham, and he has come out [...]

Newcastle's capitulation on Saturday could become a useful thing if it never happens again to Newcastle this season. Alan Pardew we cannot switch off at Brighton Whenever Newcastle have a good first half from now on, or when they are on top in any game, they should realize that the game is not won.

There were a number of Newcastle fans angry at the capitulation against Fulham on Saturday afternoon. Yohan Cabaye - in action on Saturday That much is clear from the reaction of both myself and my son Neil after the game (and during the game) , which ruined the weekend. I had lunch with my son yesterday afternoon and he couldn't [.

Speaking after Newcastle United's abject second half capitulation to Fulham in yesterday's game at Craven Cottage, our Silver Supremo, Alan Pardew, looked for reasons for the collapse. "I can't really explain what happened to our back four," he said continuing: "It wasn't a case of us not trying second half, we just lacked mental discipline [.

After Saturday's capitulation to lowly Bolton at the Reebok 3-1, Kenny Dalglish openly criticised his players for their attitude and performance in the defeat, even claiming that heads will roll after that display.
Well Kenny, it was an abject display by the team, a team you largely assembled yourself.

A bit too melodramatic? No, this is Arsenal!

Can we get back in the game?

Everyone loves a good comeback story. Americans, in particular, are completely fixated upon this trope. Rocky Balboa, the Major League series (back when Charlie Sheen was a serious actor. WINNING!), among many others played this story to its full effect, culminating in the 1993 mega-hit, The Sandlot, where puny little white kids (and one tall, dark, handsome pseudo-Hispanic) showed that yeah, they could play baseball too!

Stoke City head to Anfield currently sitting alone in eighth and unbeaten in their last four. Tony Pulis' side has managed success both domestically and in Europe, as they'll accompany the two Manchester sides in the first knockout round of the Europa League early next month. Liverpool will hope to continue their relative hot streak at home, during which they've scored eight goals in their last two matches at Anfield and finally found a way to finish chances.

As of today, with one game of his ban served against Manchester City and the fixtures flying by fast in January, Luis Suarez is set to miss Oldham in the FA Cup, Manchester City home and away in the League Cup semi-finals, plus Stoke, Bolton, and Wolves in the league in January and the first match of February against Tottenham.

With all the furore over Luis Suarez getting another ban, Liverpool getting a £20,000 fine over Jay Spearing getting sent off and all the dismal draws instead of wins as we slide down the table, it is the same old story with Liverpool FC, failure to beat lower league opposition, failure to stay in touch with the Manchester teams and now Tottenham Hotspur.

On Wednesday night, Liverpool fans across the globe united in celebration after experiencing one of life's legitimately sublime pleasures: the elimination of Man United from the Champions League. Anfield legend Alan Hansen goes out of his way to remain objective when commentating on football issues, but his scathing comments about United's 'catastrophic' capitulation reveal a pleasing, and

Home (Not So) Sweet Home!

With the Reds struggling at home with only 2 wins from 6, our columnist Robert Nevitt assesses what is going wrong with our performances at Anfield. As the saying goes, "There's a fine line between success and failure". If John Ruddy hadn't had the game of his life when Norwich came to Anfield, we'd have won comfortably.

`There was no hope left. No one even shouted at the players.' Conversation over post-match drinks with a Coventry-supporting friend on Tuesday night was dominated by such sentiments. Toning down my personal delight at City's 3-0 capitulation at Millwall, I murmured in sympathy. The draining away of hope among the Sky Blues in the Den's North Stand was not dissimilar to the feeling elicited by

What the hell?

What the hell.

Winless in three! A wretched second half in Belgium follows our absolutel capitulation after halftime against Arsenal. Cue the crisis talk, my friends.

A decent enough first half ravaged with wastefulness gives way to a phoned-in final 45 minutes that cost us the points in Belgium.

Venue: Britannia Stadium, Sir Stanley Matthews Way, Stoke-upon-Trent. Date: Monday, October 26th, 2011. Kick-off: 8:00pm. Referee: Mike Dean. TV: Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports HD 1. Well, The Magpies must pick themselves up from their disappointing capitulation against Blackburn Rovers in the League Cup and prepare themselves for a trip to another of the nation's [.

There's not much to say after last night's capitulation to Burnley, so I leave it to Stan Collymore to offer support and crumbs of comfort [...] Read the original post on Seat Pitch

After the capitulation at Spurs last Sunday, Liverpool have a great chance to get results back on track when they play Brighton in the Carling Cup tonight.
Kenny Dalglish is forced into making changes with the suspensions to Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel along with the fractured rib which also rules Daniel Agger out for around four weeks, painful injury that.

Quite bizarrely, a section of the Liverpool support turned on manager Kenny Dalglish both during and after Sunday's 4-0 thumping by Tottenham Hotspur. In what is possibly the most defining ever statement on the fickleness of the modern game, a man who has revitalised from a team heading more towards the bottom half than the Champions League to genuine top four contenders, felt the brunt of the supporters frustration as the goals reined in.

Ayegbeni Yakubu scored twice on his Blackburn Rovers debut as Steve Kean's team shocked Arsenal 4-3 to win their first league match of the season.

Arsenal have now won just 1 of their last 11 away league games and have conceded 12 goals on their last two Premier League away games.

But the Gunners should have wrapped this match up in the first half when they twice held one goal leads as Gervinho and Mikel Arteta scored their first goals for the Gunners.

The Joy of Six: classic Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool games | Scott Murray

From a 14-goal double-header in 1963 to a Klinsmann classic, here's a selection of some great matches between the two sides 1) Liverpool 5–2 Tottenham Hotspur (First Division, 12 April 1963); Tottenham Hotspur 7–2 Liverpool (First Division, 15 April 1963) It was Easter weekend, and Spurs were going for the title in a three-way tussle with Everton and Leicester City.

A bit of a chaser on yesterday's Charlie Davies' bit:

My topic in this week's Talking Tactics column at MLSSoccer.com was D.C. United's effective counter attacking strategy Saturday, key in the 3-0 win in Southern California. It seems that most people agreed with yesterday's rant, about one player getting disproportionate credit for United's big win.