And a huge pants off to Tommy for taking the time to answer my questions.

Match Preview This was provided by my koppite friend Tommy B. Feel free to move it to the top of the thread. 1. What do you see as Liverpool's priorities this year? Europe, Domestic Cups or the Premiership? How do you think you will fair in each? With the influx of new players/coach this year, our focus should be solely domestic. We're kidding ourselves if we think otherwise. We shouldn't have much difficulty finishing 4th in the premiership this year, but the important thing will be how we do it. Last year was comedy but this year we certainly need to make more of a statement. In terms of Europe, getting out of the group stage is achievable and would be great. Anything else is a bonus. We'll win the FA Cup if every game can be played at Anfield. The whole travelling thing seems to be eluding us at the moment. 2. What is your opinion of Blackburn Rovers this season? I think Neil needs to break some more legs to give them a bit of a kick start. I'm also at a loss to explain how such a popular and successful club has ended up with such a bunch of no-name players. 3. Last season it was a popular opinion that Liverpool was one Stevie Gerrard away from mid-table obscurity or worse. This season there has been much less publicity surrounding Gerrard. Do you see this as a function of poorer performances by Gerrard or better performances by other Liverpool players? How do you think Gerrard has played so far this season? After Henry, Stevie G is the best player in the premiership and he proved in the first couple of games. But he's been out for several weeks now, and Liverpool have put a few good performances together as of late. The spanish influence has certainly helped...garcia in particularly. So, I think it's more due to having better players around him. But no one will be complaining when he returns. He's the heart and sole of the team. 4. You acquired a new manager this season; Were you pleased with the selection of Benitez as manager? Were there other managers you would have preferred? I didn't know anything about him. But he won the Primera Liga with a playing list that was considered far weaker than the top 2 teams and thats probably the same boat we're in. He seems to have the right idea and is prepared to make hard decisions. Getting rid of Owen was a masterstroke. There weren't that many available managers other than Mourinho. Martin O'Neils name always comes up when Liverpool have an opening...He also wouldn't be a bad choice but I think you need a slightly more sophisticaetd approach in these days. 5. Rovers got rid of Souness and brought in Hughes. What is your opinion of each manager? Are we better or worse of under Hughes? Souness is Scottish and Hughes is Welsh. Beyond that, I don't really know that much I'm not a massive fan of booting managers because the team is going @#/? this early in the season, particularly if they used to play for Liverpool. But I guess the board are thinking that its better to make a change before things get too dire. Although I can't imagine Hughes has won to many fans during his time in charge. 6. Danny Murphy left Liverpool in search of the 'camaraderie' he thinks no longer exists at cosmopolitan Anfield (here for reference). Do you think he was right in suggesting that English players and an English manager contribute to a better team spirit? How has this affected Liverpool? My initial answer to this question was Liverpool 2 - Charlton 0, but I was told these answers require more detail.....There seems to be this idea that players from Europe are more clinical and professional, and therefore must be robots who lack spirit. What a load of crap. These guys have played football all their lives and want to win as much as the next bloke. Look at what DiCanio did for West Ham (and before anyone cracks wise, the answer is not 'get them relegated'). 7. Obligatory sympathy question: Blackburn has not had a penalty in a year and half. Are we hard done by or simply unlucky? The correct answer is that you haven't got any because none of the opposing defenders have fouled a Blackburn player in the area during that period. (Ed. Get stuffed Tommy) 8. Henchoz, a former Rover and current Liverpudlian, looks like he will be part of the January sales. Comment on his career at Anfield and your thoughts on his impending departure. Henchoz came to Liverpool with a rich history of comedy defending. I, for one, was initially cautious about his impending arrival. However, during 'the year', he managed to grow into a cross between Paolo Maldini and Bobby Moore. Then he resumed his comedy defending again. He will be remebered most for his role in Liverpool's absolute burgulary of the 00-01 FA Cup. The blatant handball that denied Henery about his 5th certain goal was sublime. Seriously, I think another centre-half to play next to Hoop-eye-a is Liverpool's biggest priority. That, and convincing baros and Cisse that things work better if they pass to each other 9. Liverpool and Everton have one of the oldest rivalries in football but Everton's relegation struggles over the last couple of seasons has seen a focus on Liverpool's other rivalry v Mancherster United. Considering Everton's excellent form this season, who would you rather beat, Everton or ManUre? Why? Always everton champ...It doesn't matter how well they're playing, thats the bad boy. There's something about playing the 'other' team in any city...... They always seem like they have less teeth and sleep with their sisters. But beating ManU is also good because their essentially a bunch of cheating cheap c%$ts. As for Everton's form, they'll fall over. 10. Lucas Neill snapped Jamie Carraghers leg when the teams met in 2003. What was your opinion of the tackle and reaction of the managers after the event? Do you think the bad blood between the two clubs is still there? I mentioned before that Lucas is the man to get things moving at Blackburn. The tackle wasn't that bad. Having given up football to play Aussie Rules in recent years, I long for the days when a 'tackle' simply meant getting booted in the shins. Now I'm more worried about some bloke who's out on parole breaking my leg. Houllier was certainly a little bit flustered but I think that was more to do with him seeing his career going down the toilet. As for bad blood, I'd be surprised...that was last season and Carragher's ok. Plus, I think Liverpool are all a little bit scared of the mad man. Now all we need is for him to do it to whoever finishes 5th in South America (Australia's World Cup qualifier opponents) 11. Who are Blackburn's main threats and weaknesses? Friedel has been a quality keeper, and Dickov has been lively at times. Other than that, the cupboard is a little bare at Blackburn this year. In terms of weaknesses, after leaking 8 goals in two matches, a finger has to be pointed squarely at the defence. You played Neil out of position at Centre-half last week and the results were pretty dire. You also need Emo to starting getting a bit wider 12. Who are Liverpool's main threats and weaknesses? Garcia is obviously the man....fairly useful goal against Charlton last week. Baros scored a couple in the Carling cup so maybe he's getting back into form. Alsonso has also given us a bit of width in the last couple of games which had previsouly been lacking. Our biggest weakness is the Cisse-Baros combination. They're both brilliant players but they're not gelling. I think if they can work themselves out, we have a really, really solid 11. As long as Kewell isn't in it 13. What line-up do you think Liverpool will put out for Saturday? I hope he persists with Cisse-Baros up front. I think he's got to look for next year in some respects and just let them work it out on the pitch. Plus, when garcia goes up front, we lose a little bit in the midfield. I'm glad to see Kirkland back in the side as well cause I think he's a better long term bet than Jerzy. We looked pretty good against Charlton last week, so I'd expect Benitez to go with pretty much the same line, which was: Kirkland Carragher Finnan Hyypia Traore Alonso Hamann Garcia Risse Baros Cisse 14. Who do you see as our best 11? To be honest, I haven't got a clue. (Ed. That is of course the only answer any of us could give) 15. What do you think the result of the match will be? Our road form is not great at the moment, so its hard to be confident. But I don't think that the Blackburn back 4 will cause many problems for the likes of Garcia. And Hyppia and Co should be able to handle Dickov and Reid. I think Liverpool will squander a number of chances early, giving Blackburn a sniff. But they'll come up 1 or 2-nil

I never thought i'd hear myself say this (see myself type this?) but I really don't like our team. I don't mean that I think they aren't performing (although they aren't) or that they are a nasty bunch of people but as a group our team lacks redeeming, likable qualities: 1. We aren't flashy and we have no awe-inspiringly creative players (Tugay used to be but nowadays...) so watching us play is simply not enjoyable. At least the pace and threat of Duff as well as the sporadic genius of Dunn were entertaining when we lost but nowadays there's nothing to take home from a bad result. 2. We aren't consistent. At least I could handle boring football if we were winning or producing clean sheets but it's impossible to look at our defence and go "boring but solid" and respect them for that. 3. No real characters or "rallying points" in the team. At least when Duff or Jansen were in their prime you knew that even if the chips were down thsose two could produce magic that would save the game or at least instill hope for the next game. They were players who were easy to love because of their skill and infectious enthusiasm. Who can we turn to nowadays? Stead was great at the end of last season and you could see all the kids in the crowd wearing their Steadinho jerseys but now? Matteo? Dickov? please.... We all miss Uncle Jack as well as his very presence meant that even if things were bad now the future was always bright. 4. Very much related to the previous three but there is no fear-factor associated with Rovers anymore. Teams come here knowing that if they play an Ok game they are going to get a win. Not like two seasons ago when teams knew that even if they played at their best we might still beat them. Having a team that was feared and respected made the games so much more enjoyable as the quality of football increased, the games had better atmosphere as the fans were enjoying themselves, and it actually felt like being a Rovers fan was something of which we could be genuinely proud. Nowadays every game is a grind. I can't remember enjoying a single game we've played this season and that is the worst thing I've ever had to say about my beloved Rovers. I don't blame Hughes though. I just want to enjoy supporting this team again (I'll always support the club).

Oy I'll do a preview! I was scheduled for this game anyway but I forgot (and Den *again* forgot to remind me ). Should have it in a couple of hours.

Cheers Big A. Even if my TS raises by two and then drops back one (as it's done in the past) due to the wretchedness of my coaches leadership the boost should be enough to help me win the midfield for my league game on Sunday. I know 40K is waaaaaay too big for right now but it's not something i want to do again in the near future due to the doubling cost.

I have bizarrely gone to the top of the table in my league (V.200 in Oceania) after a comfortable 3-1 win. I face mission impossible in my cup match having drawn a div III team (incidentally from PGs league) and will face my first loss in 12 competitive games . I am wondering whether i should PIC the match but i am not certain of what PIC and a loss will do to my team confidence, sponsors mood and TS. I want to improve my team even further but at the moment my first priority is getting some funds to improve my stadium before the price doubles next season. I assume that Okey and his miniscule 3-seater stadium are in the same boat . Is 40000 sufficient (supporters club: 836 but i don't want to have to improve my stadium again in the near future)? PG: Is Rewa even going to get a game in the Oceanian squad? It's just that their current wingers seem to get 2 more stars a game than him (not a final indicator but suggestive nonetheless)...

I voted for Douglas, I never saw him play but the vote isn't for my favourite right winger (would be Ripley), it's for the greatest ever right winger which Douglas clearly is. My next task is to hunt down the three people who voted for Emerton....

I won 10 out of 14 and got a qualifier and promoted. At best I'll finish fourth this season (fifth is more likely) but it's going to be a lot more fun than smashing bots on a weekly basis. Once two of my strikers pop to formidable I'm going to sell the rest (should be four excellents by then) and buy 3 17yo solid PM, 3 17yo passable PM, and 4 17yo solid Wing/passable PM. By then it should be the middle of the season and the prices should be pretty low. I'll also sell off my current midfield. I can't afford to pay for a midfield big enough to win my current series so I'll have to train it from scratch. EDIT: And how did everyone do in their cup matches today? I had an amazing 6-0 win over a team was nowhere as good as they should have been. Seriously this team should have mopped the floor with me but I PIC'd my last two matches so maybe he underestimated the ratings my team is capable of attaining.

I PIC'd my first match and won 0-3 which i was pretty stoked about. I face a nearly impossible task in a cup match on Wednesday but at least my midfield will look alright thanks to my TS. I trained stamina in the final week of the break and had 15 players go down in form but 13 up in stamina.

Well it took longer than i expected but it would appear that a confrontation between Bellamy and Souness is imminent after the striker allegedly gave Souey a mouthful after he was substituted (here). Get out the popcorn boys because if we can't get an satisfaction from our team at the moment then at least we can revel in the misery of others.

I paid AU$72000 for an inadequate keeper that i can't sell for AU$10000 now. Also nearly all my trainees were just inadequate when i first bought them.

Two signs of a bot team: 1. The club will not have an owner listed on the club page. Definitie bot team. 2. The club will have an owner listed but the owner has abondoned the team (by not logging in). You can check this by clicking on the "More details about owner" link under the owner information then click on the "5 latest logins" link. if the user hasn't logged in for that week they will run with the same line-up as last week so you should know exactly what you will be facing. Thats a pretty good looking midfield you have there Biscuit and your strikers aren't too bad for a VI team either. Your defence is pretty poor though but I doubt that'll matter with such a strong midfield. I love my defensive trainer, since I'm training scoring it really helps balance out my team and I tend to get 2.5-3 stars across the board.

Yikes AMerican. Don't buy trainees now! They are as expensive as they'll ever be in the first week of the season. I PIC'd against a bot team and won 5-0. Played 3-4-3 with, shock-horror, only two inner mids and two wingers. One of my trainees copped an injury and he was due to pop to excellent this week.

C'mon BigA. England has twice as many users as Oceania. However you are right in that it was a great achievement by England to get that far considering Sweden has 4 times as many users as England. I'm just saying the tactics seemed a little odd. Still they were better than Finlands tactics in the Semi.

Wow. England's tactics seem bewildering. Don't get me wrong, I doubt there's anything England could have done to win that match as Sweden were on POE+++ TS. But 4-3-3 with no wings and three forwards?!? Their wing defence sucked and they were justly thrashed 6-1. Credit must go to Oceania for losing to Sweden 3-2 and becoming the only team to put 2 goals past them. Plus we drew England 1-1 thus becoming the only non-European team in the final group stage. We only missed out on the semis on goal difference, not a bad effort for a newish league like ours...

K Guys. I just bought supporter. Drop me a note in my guest book and recommend me some good federations to join. I noticed there is a Blackburn Rovers fed but it doesn't seem active. We should start a BRFCS fed! Supine Rovers (417804)

It bugs me that in one brief melee he showed more passion and energy than he did for us in the latter half of last season! THank god he has 6 weeks to catch his breath...

hahahaah...bad luck American. I cannot believe you didn't win that friendly. You had me beaten in nearly every area of the ground! But when you play AIM you lose your wing attack and wing defence and the winning goal came from a wing event. Here i was thinking my furious TS was going to lose it for me. American Rovers Player rating and Team formation Team Attitude: (Hidden) Tactic: Attack in the middle Tactic skill: solid Midfield: wretched (very high) Right Side Defence: weak (low) Central Defence: weak (high) Left Side Defence: poor (high) Right Side Attack: inadequate (very low) Central Attack: inadequate (very low) Left Side Attack: poor (very low) Supine Rovers Player rating and Team formation Team Attitude: Normal Tactic: Normal Tactic skill: (Unlimited) Midfield: disastrous (very high) Right Side Defence: weak (very low) Central Defence: weak (very low) Left Side Defence: weak (low) Right Side Attack: weak (high) Central Attack: weak (very low) Left Side Attack: wretched (high) Incidentally that victory brings to an end my run of 13 consecutive winless friendlies. My last victory was also over you American, back on the 30/06 .

Solid Playmaking is more important American. Although a Solid PM/Passable Passing would be very sweet (but it will cost you). Make sure they have Solid+ stamina as well.

As we say all too often in the oceania YP forums: Too bad about the age and time of season . Good luck Griz! I too am playing a qualifier against a team that i should beat quite thoroughly. If i do i'm buying supporter (so i can see my medal on my team screen ). Can i say what a fan of playing qualifiers rather than auto promoting i am. It means i get an extra week of scoring training which means I will have 3 excellent scoring 18yo for the first week of next season. I'm going to try and sell one of them at an exhorbitant price EDIT: I absolutely *pumped* the opposition winning 9-0(!!!). Now in V.200 in Oceania. EDIT2: American i will only be able to put out a B squad for the friendly. Next week i will be able to play close to my A squad as i won't have two games. Also because i MOTSed the qualifier my TS is at furious which should swing the match in your favour considerably.

American. I put out a team with one, crappy inner mid, 2 wingers, my three worst strikers, and played a formation that i sucked at. I assure you that when i don't have to worry about injury or form for my qualification match next week it will be a much closer affair. I will play my starting inner mids in my favourite formation (although you will still face my lesser strikers as playing a qualifier means an extra week of training).

I don't think that's an apt comparison Flops. Souness paid transfer fees and signed older players to long-term contracts (Yorke, Cole etc). Djorkaeff is free and is signed to a 3-month contract. At worst he costs us 3 months in wages.

Or have a playoff among us bottom div teams for the right to take on PG and BigA . Organise it now. Will be easier that way. I doubt American, Okie, myself, cookie etc will make it past the first round of the cup so aim to start it the week after the first cup round.

YES! Won my conference with a final 9-0 victory! Not only that but my YP striker picked the right game to score 5 goals so i ended up with the top scorer money as well. My playoff game is against a much easier opponent (max dudes) than my previous post would indicate (thanks for the info BigA) so i genuinely fancy my chances of promotion.

Na BigA. It looks like it will be the same guy. I went to the site that shows your playoff opponent and i can't imagine that it will change (unless i am misunderstanding how the playoff opponent selection works) American: Yeah, friendlies from now. I have already challenged you. EDIT: Does the coaches leadership affect how form is decided? I have been absolutely murdered in the last two training calculations when it comes to form and it coincides with my coaches leadership dropping to Wretched. 3 of my players form dropped by 2 levels and another 3 dropped by one level.