Liverpool always grab a shotgun and aim for their foot

In this age of not so much creeping globalisation as remorseless, relentless globalisation, the importance of shopping local scarcely needs to be emphasised. Thankfully geographical serendipity makes it easy for your correspondent to do his bit.

The tweet from a reporter read “Klopp angry with crowd impatience”. Here we go, I thought.

Steven Kelly takes a look at the iconic life of former Liverpool player and coach Ronnie Moran.

I think your best bet is to treat Swansea like the local vet. 

Jason McAteer thinks that the lure of a return to club football means there’s “a big possibility” of Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane departing as the Ireland management team after next month’s European Championships.

Small wonder nobody can figure this team out. You don’t know what you’re watching from one week to the next.

Could Ardal O’Hanlon’s new comedy on Sky really exorcise the ghosts of Father Ted? He’s not bothered either way, writes Keeley Bolger

Never lost a derby. Can Shankly claim that? Can Paisley? Can your precious Rafa, eh? EH? EH?!?

When the players of FC Haka of Finland walked off the pitch at Turner’s Cross in July 2008 following an entertaining 2-2 draw, few of the home fans could have predicted that it would be seven long years before the ground would hold another European club fixture.

There were those who sympathised. They know Basle have always been tricky, especially against the English. These were reasonable people who understood you can’t go missing for five years and just pick up where you left off in 2009. They know it was expected then because Rafa had already earned his stripes at Valencia, while Rodgers is a relative novice.

"Our season starts here," said Brendan Rodgers boldly before kickoff in Bulgaria, but it was more of the same as familiar failings came back to haunt his side.

Police in England are hunting a convicted burglar who has absconded from HMP Leyhill – the third inmate to go on the run from the prison inside a week.

Bob Wilson has launched an astonishing attack on Jose Mourinho in which he accuses the Chelsea manager of being a boring bully.

Liverpool 1 Manchester Utd 0

Another month, another anniversary, but one that won’t be overlooked on Merseyside in a few weeks will be the birthday — September 2, 1913 — of the man who, in the broad church of football, is revered as a saint.

Last April I went to the Emirates and saw Mario Balotelli get sent off.

Just as he knew best about most things, it seems Shankly was right again.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has warned expectant fans they may have to be patient as realisation of his vision for the way the team play may be some time coming to fruition.

YOU could call it one of the great White Coat scenarios in all of sport.

DAVY FITZGERALD, whenever he does depart Waterford, he’ll leave it in a much better state than he found it.

LIKE a good film, all the threads of the season merged seamlessly together in the final reel.

I KNOW it’s juvenile but perhaps my favourite moment this past memorable weekend was hearing BBC Radio reporting live that a stunt mounted by the Red Issue fanzine had succeeded perfectly.

SO how shall I put this differently from the dozens of times it’s been said before?

LIVERPOOL manager Kenny Dalglish is keen for the club to rediscover the style of their glory days — as it is the only way he knows how to play football.

SO NOW the penny is beginning to drop. From the start, this season had ‘CONSOLIDATION’ branded into its wrinkled flesh and we’ve seen little to change that perception.

SO the transfer window slams down on our fingers again, and who were they reaching towards?

LIAM BRADY has backed Giovanni Trapattoni to live long and prosper in football, saying that there’s more than a hint of the legendary ‘Shanks’ about ‘Il Trap’.

AN old Hollywood actor became the byword for wooden performances. The subject of a celebrated urban myth, he became infamous several years after a radio presenter supposedly announced his upcoming appearance on a show by howling in disbelief: “Sonny Tufts?!”

AS ONE half of arguably the bitterest rivalry in English football, next week’s fixtures possess the potential to open up a can of worms the size of a small planet.

AS the Premier League season heads towards an exciting climax – arguably the most gripping since Michael Thomas galloped through the heart of the Liverpool defence on May 26, 1989 – it’s worth remembering that, despite its cosmopolitan values, English football remains one of the tightest closed shops in the sporting world.

NO, you weren’t hallucinating. That was Tony Pulis complimenting Liverpool on their “grarrrrft” – and it wasn’t even the most depressing moment of the week.

SO it’s come to this, urging Arsenal to victory so that Aston Villa can drop points.

IF A picture paints a thousand words, replace this column with a shot of Kenny Dalglish at the Europa Cup draw.

THEY paid tribute to Bill Shankly at Anfield last night in their tens of thousands and, while the current Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is still some way short of having the same impact on Merseyside as the legendary Scotsman, goals from David N’gog and Fernando Torres at least ensured a victory over Wigan and an end to recent miseries, for the moment at least.

SO, sadly, I was right to highlight Saturday’s fixture as the most likely falling fence in our otherwise gentle pre-January canter.

IT’S just a blip, you know. Everyone says so. Just like coming out of a recession. I know they said it five or six times already, but they really mean it this time.

Liverpool will use Wednesday’s home match against Wigan to commemorate the 50th anniversary of legendary manager Bill Shankly taking over at the club.

HERE’S an easy tip for you to spot a wrong one, Red-wise: did he burble to you on Saturday night about Ryan’s “100th Premiership goal”? If so, it’s as sure a mark of a clown as a bright red nose. (Erm, that’s not a dig at you, Fergie.)

RAFAEL BENITEZ has revealed his gratitude to injured players who are forcing themselves through the pain barrier to salvage the club’s season.