The infamous beach ball which cost Liverpool FC the match against Sunderland is being offered a place in football history.
The National Football Museum want to put the red inflatable on display alongside the ball from the 1966 World Cup Final and the original FA Cup.
Last night the ball was sold for £411. Click to continue reading...

World Cup play-offs dominate the week. It's squeaky bum time for several countries around the world. We have the second leg in the Asia vs Oceania play off, the CONCACAF v South America showdown, and the games that will decide which European sides will join those already qualified. Our guest this week is Lilika, a Liverpool fan living in Japan.

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Welcome to the first 'Groan in Brief', a look at recent events that may or may not have anything to do with Arsenal the focus of these pieces will be on any current football stories that I feel like commenting on. Expect the FA, FIFA, UEFA and Jamie Redknapp to be regular targets of ridicule.

The international break seems like a good time to start, given that there's no Arsenal news filtering through, at least until the matches themselves leave the whole squad crippled, so let's get on with it.

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Anfield looking for more reliable defensive line.

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Manchester United are the latest big name club to be linked with highly rated Danish defender Simon Kjaer.

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As Anfield, the city of Liverpool, and every Liverpool fan jumped for joy during Sunday's humbling of Man United, one man stood still...emotionless; impassive, and controlled. That man was, of course, Rafa Benitez - the heartbeat and Commander in Chief of everything Liverpool FC.
If one was to spend the whole match against Manchester United watching Rafa, it would be hard to judge the scoreline at the end. Click to continue reading...

Despite the doom and gloom of the last few weeks - and amid the continued misplaced vitriol towards the owners - there are plenty of reasons for Liverpool fans to be positive at the moment.
As many people who visit this regularly will know, I take a critical, realist approach to LFC. Within that approach, I always try and be fair, and there is plenty of evidence for that on the site. Click to continue reading...

Last week I posted what I believed to be Rafa Benitez's 10 biggest transfer blunders. This week, as promised, I take a look at the 10 best signings during the Boss's 5 years in charge. And there have been some absolute corkers!
When you think back to the squad Rafa inherited (Traore, Biscan, et al), it is clear that our squad is now superior in almost every way. Click to continue reading...

Any Liverpool fan would remember the skills and talent of Danish turned honorary Scouser, Jan Molby. Voted in at no. 16 on the list of 100 Players Who Shook The Kop, he was a player with as immense a talent as was his waistline. Before the elegant Xabi Alonso, Liverpool fans marvel at the sublime passing skills and long range shooting of Jan Molby. Click to continue reading...

A typically youthful Arsenal Carling Cup side (save captain for a day Mickael Silvestre) defeated Liverpool's mixed bag lineup 2-1 on Wednesday. It was obviously tough fourth round draw for both clubs and ended in controversy when Alberto Aquilani, making his Liverpool first team debut after coming on as a substitute, took an overhead shot at goal in injury that hit Philippe Senderos on the arm.

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A teenage Liverpool fan who caused one of the oddest goals in English football history came out of hiding yesterday to apologise profusely for belting a beach ball onto the pitch.
Callum Campbell, 16, told the Sunday Mirror newspaper it was he who whacked the inflatable onto the pitch, triggering Liverpool's 1-0 defeat at Sunderland on Oct 17. Click to continue reading...

In 1994 the Liverpool crowd decided to taunt Man United fans by putting out a banner which read- ‘Au revoir Cantona and Man United... come back when you've won 18'.
Man United have now equalised Liverpool's record of 18 League titles. Tomorrow Man United will be returning to Anfield for the first time since winning 18 league titles. Click to continue reading...

Ssshhh!
We need to keep our voices down.
My lover is not very happy.
4 losses on the bounce for his beloved Liverpool.
He has been out of love with Rafa for a while now.
Ever since the Robbie Keane debacle.
But he did have some belief in him. Click to continue reading...

Manchester United fans travelling to Anfield to watch their team play Liverpool at the weekend will be searched as normal as stewards look for beach balls.
Red Liverpool beach balls have sold out from the Anfield club shop, with staff suspecting United fans are snapping them up as they plan a 'tribute' to the goal Darren Bent scored for Sunderland against the Reds at the weekend. Click to continue reading...

Oh come on, are you saying I can't join in the ‘hilarious' beach-ball related antics after Darren Bent's winner on Saturday?
There are simply too many to mention as Liverpool's odds of winning the Premier League were further deflated (you see – I told you there was more) by a red beach ball thrown onto the pitch by, ironically, a Liverpool fan.

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After the rather predictable World Cup qualifiers, the more exciting English Premier League football resumes. Week 8 features some noteworthy Premiership football news. Firstly, Liverpool must subdue an in-form Sunderland without Torres and Gerrard. Secondly, Manchester United had a home tie with the always tough Bolton without Wayne Rooney. Click to continue reading...

An unpredictable season took another twist this weekend as two challengers lost and another could only draw as the season really starts to take shape.

I suppose we should be thankful for the Liverpool fan who threw the inflatable ball onto the pitch for ensuring they lost at Sunderland, but from what I saw on Match of the Day on Saturday night they really don't look that threatening without Gerrard and Torres in the side.

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Liverpool beach balls have sold out on the club's official website after rivals fans flocked to snap up copies of the now infamous red ball.
Reds supporters watched in disbelief as Liverpool lost 1-0 to Sunderland at the weekend when a shot by Darren Bent hit a beach ball and swerved past goalkeeper Pepe Reina. Click to continue reading...

Sunderland beat Liverpool 1-0 thanks to a fifth-minute goal from Darren Bent which beat Pepe Reina only after striking a beach ball thrown from the crowd by a Liverpool fan.

It later emerged that Jones should have ruled the goal out and, instead, ordered a free-kick after the ball struck an "outside agent".

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Following Darren Bent's goal against Liverpool set up by this beach ball there is one Liverpool fan who will want the whole episode to go away. The BBC did the decent thing and blurred out the lads face on Match Of The Day... enter The Sun.

Unlucky for this young Liverpool fan The Sun have released a picture of his face asking for his name and no doubt he will be named, shamed and later forced to leave Merseyside and support a new team.

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Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has brushed off his furious touchline clash with Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, following his side's 1-0 victory at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats further dented the Reds' fast-fading title hopes, thanks to a controversial Darren Bent goal, his eighth of the season flying past goalkeeper Pepe Reina after taking a wicked deflection off a beach ball that had been thrown on to the pitch by a Liverpool fan. Click to continue reading...

This is one of the most hilarious goals of recent times, unless you're a Liverpool fan.
And, of course, by any standards of common sense it shouldn't have been a goal at all. (I just tested this on my wife, incidentally, who is conversant with the rules of the game and considered the awarding of the goal an outrage. Click to continue reading...

I expected the Bolton match to be hard-fought, gritty, and all you could associate with a fixture played on the back of an international break. As the match started playing out, a little bit of revisionism struck and I actually felt we would walk it. But somehow, we contrived to make it harder for ourselves towards the end, and it ended as nervously as I first thought it would.

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My day could not be made any better, following Chelsea's loss to Villa and Manchester United eventually getting past Bolton, Liverpool suffer their fourth defeat from nine matches will send me to sleep happy. The manner of how Liverpool conceded the goal just makes it that bit sweeter...

But bétisier Sunderland Liverpool
Uploaded by alloelo. Click to continue reading...

A young Liverpool fan standing in the front row behind Pepe Reina's goal during today's match in Sunderland was having a grand time knocking a Liverpool beach ball (you can see the club crest in the above image) around...until he knocked it onto the pitch and it deflected Darren Bent's shot to give Sunderland what would be the only goal of the match.

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It has been a while since I last posted due to being heavily burdened by workload. Since that last post, we lost to Fiorentina in the CL and Chelsea, and just now to Sunderland, in the Premier League. Although I did find time to follow the news and the whatabouts on my mobile.

It is a very trying period for supporters of LFC.

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Earlier in the week, former Chelsea player Tony Cascarino slated Lucas Leiva, Emiliano Insua, Fabio Aurelio and Martin Skrtel in the harshest terms possible. Is he right or wrong with his criticisms?
Cascarino told the Times: "Lucas Leiva, Emiliano Insua, Fabiano Aurelio, Martin Skrtel... Click to continue reading...

George Gillett's recent comments have caused quite a stir amongst Liverpool fans, with the media jumping on the bandwagon, gleefully trying to resurrect the ‘Rafa vs. the Owners' spat. There is one thing, however, that I believe many fans are missing about this situation...
The basic crux of the (predictable) media response to the comments has been "Gillett blames Benitez for poor performance' and "Gillett reignites public feud with Benitez". Click to continue reading...

I, like a movie star or a heavily concussed spy who nevertheless completely remembers German, am taking a trip, which means I won't be around much for the next 10 days or so. New posts will appear faithfully while I'm gone, including a guest joint from a Liverpool fan about Michael Owen and a good-faith attempt to imagine what Wayne Rooney's life would look like if he were an Ent.

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This is something I've often kind of wondered about, so I figured it would make a decent poll. And, since there isn't much going on in the way of actual Arsenal news and probably won't be until the players report back at the end of the week, it at least gives us something to discuss.

The basic question is, which do you care about more, your club or your country?

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Rafa Benitez must be blowing a gasket this week with the news that three of his players have picked up injuries playing for their countries when they had already qualified for the World Cup.
Key striker for the reds, Fernando Torres had to be taken off at the weekend on 54mins with a leg strain with his International manager Del Bosques saying he will only play this Wednesday in another meaningless match, 'if he is 100% fit. Click to continue reading...

Steve McManaman has warned Liverpool not to heap pressure on Roberto Aquilani to be the club's saviour.
Aquilani has yet to play for the Reds after an operation on his right ankle in May.
But Liverpool legend McManaman fears too much pressure is already being placed on the 25-year-old Italian to rescue the club's season. Click to continue reading...

Mark Hughes wants Anfield midfielder.

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If there is one criticism of late that Rafa would struggle to argue against it would be his use of Israeli international Yossi Benayoun. For the best part of the last two seasons the former West Ham man has battled manfully to prove his worth to Liverpool boss and towards the tail end of last season it looked like he had convinced Benitez of his importance but again this season Yossi has found himself on the bench for reasons that have confounded just about every supporter, most notably when he was named a sub for the crunch match at Stamford Bridge.

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It has been a bad seven days for Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez and it appears to have gotten a little bit worse.

Liverpool co-owner George Gillett was quoted speaking to a Liverpool fan group Spirit of Shankly recently and he had this to day about the club:

"The money we have invested means it should be getting better.

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It has been a bad seven days for Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez and it is going to get a little worse.

Liverpool co-owner George Gillett was quoted speaking to a Liverpool fan group Spirit of Shankly recently and he had this to day about the club:

"The money we have invested means it should be getting better.

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Palermo defender Simon Kjaer says he would not turn down a move to Manchester United just because he is a Liverpool fan.
The Red Devils are reportedly keeping tabs on the Denmark international, who has been linked with a number of top clubs in the past, including Real Madrid and Liverpool. Click to continue reading...