Early Doors - Your morning briefing blog

Red alert

Mon Nov 02 08:50AM

Nine red cards were shown in the weekend's 10 Premier League games - a record according to the accepted wisdom that football (and indeed human history) started in 1992.

The disciplinary debacle provoked outrage from the mid-market tabloids, with the Daily Mail describing Saturday as a "Halloween horror show" and a "day of shame".

Let's forget for a moment that there are as many sendings-off in the average Copa Libertadores game as an average Premier League weekend - do all those red cards really point to a breakdown in discipline?

Are our football pitches really turning into a microcosm of 'Broken Britain'? How long until a team releases an away kit with a hooded shirt and a flick knife holster attached to the sock?

Well, the Mail's own former ref Graham Poll went through the dismissals and rated two of the nine cards wrong and three harsh.

More importantly, all but two were shown not for fighting or dissent, but for run-of-the-mill fouls.

The two exceptions were Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones's red for handbags with Herita Ilunga, and Birmingham midfielder Barry Ferguson's second yellow for trying to prevent a quick throw-in.

So in the grand scheme of things, it was hardly the Battle of Santiago to the power of 10.

- - -

Last weekend's win against Manchester United was supposed to have bought Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez time, but in fact it was the equivalent of sticking an extra quid into the pay and display machine.

It provided 90 minutes of respite, but before he knew it a traffic warden had slapped a penalty notice to his windscreen and attached a clamp to his front wheels.

Defeat against Lyon on Wednesday will see Liverpool all but eliminated from the Champions League and - to labour a rubbish metaphor still further - the warden will be on the blower to a haulage company to get Rafa's motor towed out of Anfield.

After the relief of last weekend, it was almost inevitable that Liverpool would return to their bad old ways against Fulham, and the substitutions of Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun (again) were heartily booed by the visiting fans.

Yes, Liverpool's squad has been depleted by injuries, but Fulham suffered two of their own on Saturday and the two subs - Zoltan Gera and Erik Nevland - combined to make a match-winning contribution.

Bizarre as it sounds, Fulham's bench was far stronger than Liverpool's, and Benitez's side looked completely clueless without Torres.

This reliance has sucked Benitez into a vicious circle that means the striker is never fully fit.

Each game is so important at the moment that Torres simply has to play - but he can only do an hour, and he never gets a chance to get back to 100 per cent sharpness.

Benitez was criticised for taking Torres off after 63 minutes against Fulham, but that hour has now made the striker doubtful for Wednesday's game against Lyon.

That is a must-win, so Torres is bound to play. He'll probably score, then have to come off. Then he'll be a doubt for next Monday's must-win Premier League game against Birmingham City.

Of course the problem is not Benitez's over- or under-use of Torres, but that Liverpool only have one striker.*

One thing is certain, however: Benitez will do everything in his power to prevent Torres taking part in Spain's forthcoming friendlies against Argentina and Austria.

*Not strictly true, actually. With his record of two goals in 40 minutes, David Ngog is the most lethal striker in the Premier League. Yet another reason not to trust statistics.

- - -

Harry Redknapp was non too happy after Tottenham's 3-0 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates.

Not because his team had been thoroughly outclassed, but because a nasty man in the crowd used a swear word.

Redknapp said: "He was swearing and there were little kids standing there. I don't understand why people do that. I just asked if he could behave himself and act like a proper human being."

The Spurs boss has previously had a go at Aston Villa fans who taunted him, saying: "I never swore in front of my kids in my life."

Which may well be true. After all, it was not Redknapp's son Jamie but Ray Wilkins and Paul Merson in the SKy Sports studio in 2007 when Redknapp effed and blinded to Jeff Shreeves at the start of a post-match interview (language alert).

Nor was Jamie in the Portsmouth squad when his dad failed to see the funny side after being hit with a ball on the training ground while doing a TV interview (language alert again - "You were aiming for the goal and you hit me? No wonder he's in the f***ing reserves.")

And there were no minors present at Saturday's post-match press conference when, having just complained about swearing, Redknapp gave this reaction to a question about Robbie Keane's claim that Spurs have a better squad than Arsenal:

"You know what you f**king press guys are like. He probably said we have a stronger squad than last year or something like that."

ED doesn't have a problem with a 62-year-old football manager using the odd bit of colourful language, but it reckons he should probably cut out the moralising.

- - -

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: "I am an honest person, I know that I'm not as good as I was. I don't play as freely but I'm lucky to still be playing." Refreshingly self-aware stuff from Alan Smith, who might have cared to share this information with Newcastle before they spent £6 million on him in 2007.

FOREIGN VIEW: Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia have suspended nine players for an unspecified period.

The club did not say why the players were suspended but the bans followed reports some players had been spotted drinking at nightclubs in the past fortnight.

CSKA coach Luboslav Penev announced the bans at the club's training ground in Pancharevo several hours after the 2-0 away loss to Litex Lovech - their second consecutive league defeat.

The nine suspended players were Bulgarian internationals Ivan Karadzhov, Ivan Ivanov, Kiril Kotev, Pavel Vidanov and midfielder Yordan Todorov as well as Brazilian Marquinhos, Portugal's David Silva, Todor Timonov and Svetoslav Petrov.

Comments1 - 30 of 198
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1st, 1st
From kfn_99 on Mon Nov 02 08:52AM
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It's Red Alert at Anfield... We are about to implode, jaysus chroist!
From who_are_ya_85 on Mon Nov 02 08:52AM
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ED's Benitez is the man responsible for being over reliant on Torres!
We are at the stage where we can't afford to sack the manager as the owners are too broke to do so! Being dumped out of the CL and the prospect of failing to qualify next season would be drastic, all in all, it ain't working so things need to change. At least we beat United though
From who_are_ya_85 on Mon Nov 02 08:58AM
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4orbari, smeshni ste!!!
From staffer84 on Mon Nov 02 09:19AM
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Unlucky Robbie Keane, If Arsenal were 2-0 down i wish we had the strength in depth to bring on BALE & HUTTON. LMAO.
Liverpool are the biggest joke in the Premiership this season. The near success of last season must make it even worse. Rafa has too start trusting other players.
From jay8my on Mon Nov 02 09:27AM
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What has happened to the other 9 Liverpool players that they need to be so OVER-RELIANT on Torres and Gerard?
From jonathangrosskopf on Mon Nov 02 09:28AM
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Glad to see that all Liverpool fans, including who are ya 85, are going to be relying completely on that win v United. Smoke screen for the humiliating loss versus Fulham. The definite red cards don't seem to bother the supporters who will use the "at least we beat United" attitude. Lyon will rubber stamp Liverpool's exit from the CL but that's OK, because "at least we beat United." Benitez is clearly losing his mind by subbing Benayoun (a player that Benitez completely underrates) and Torres but that's OK because "at least we beat United." Scousers, we United fans have moved on from the debacle at Anfield. Well done; you deserved to win, but life has moved on from then. Liverpool were dumped out of the Carling Cup and looked to have relinquished their top four spot for the rest of the season, but that's ok because....
From suggzz_51 on Mon Nov 02 09:28AM
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Recently, I came across an age-gap site called-- Agegapmingle--C O M --It's a nice and free place for Younger Women and Older Men, or Older Women and Younger Men, to interact with each other. Age gap is not problem there. You may check out or tell your friends.
From hellojessicajones on Mon Nov 02 09:30AM
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Recently, I came across an age-gap site called-- Agegapmingle--C O M --It's a nice and free place for Younger Women and Older Men, or Older Women and Younger Men, to interact with each other. Age gap is not problem there. You may check out or tell your friends.
From hellojessicajones on Mon Nov 02 09:31AM
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Jay, does he have to start trusting other players, or stop buying players he won't trust?
From yerg_nevets on Mon Nov 02 09:38AM
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goodbye jessica jones
From yerg_nevets on Mon Nov 02 09:38AM
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Had enought of the English Premier League? From now on I am a supporter of TOM TOMSK. What a brilliant name. They play at the Trudd Stadium and they change their name when they get bored. Previous incantations have been, Burevestnik, Tomich, Sibelektromotor, Torpedo, Tomles and Manometr. My two favourite names are Torpedo and Manometr. The latter sounds like something Smersh used to attach to 007's family jewels. (Oh my eyes are watering now). Bestest thing about them though is.... They have not one but TWO players called SMIRNOV. I vondor iv it is dat stuff vrom Varrington. Adios. P.S. Rafa the gaffa is a bit of a jaffa.......
From damurf2000 on Mon Nov 02 09:54AM
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Steven Grey 26 - How can you trust a player before you have bought them?
From jay8my on Mon Nov 02 09:56AM
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#19 - The little... at least we beat United dig would only worked only morons like you. Did you fail to read everything I had wrote before had? Clearly I'm not happy with the situation at Anfield, and we have major problems.
From who_are_ya_85 on Mon Nov 02 10:01AM
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#25 - Alright mate, Was back in the Motherland myself for a week last week. Ireland is an absolute rip-off, Christmas is a torcher for us Exiles.
I'm at my wits ends with the Liverpool situation, but I'll keep the faith!
From who_are_ya_85 on Mon Nov 02 10:06AM
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Jay - You are right, however, how long have Voronin, Ngog, Lucas et al been on the Liverpool books? Sure, none of them are a Torres or a Gerrard or an Alonso. If he trusts them enough to spend 'xyz' to buy them, then he surely must give them an opportunity to pay back that investment? How else is he going to grow or nurture the next generation of Gerrards or Torres'? Is it Benitez's fault, or is it his scouting network's fault? Coaching staff? Sombebody's fault? Nobody's fault?
From yerg_nevets on Mon Nov 02 10:07AM
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Best part of £20 Mil in your back pocket and back to manage your home town, sounds like a plan to me!!
From andy_lycett on Mon Nov 02 10:10AM
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"With his record of two goals in 40 minutes, David Ngog is the most lethal striker in the Premier League."
LOL
From lifan1312 on Mon Nov 02 10:12AM
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Good point Bobo. And the common denominator is...............................??????
From yerg_nevets on Mon Nov 02 10:12AM
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Steven grey 43 Calm the f**k down. Im not a Liverpool supporter, I dont actually care that much. Its clearly Benitez fault. He has responsibilty for the team and they are not performing. The mental state of players can have a huge affect on performance level's and right now Liverpool are all over the place.
From jay8my on Mon Nov 02 10:15AM
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"MY GIRLFRANDS PASSAY WETS ER BED AL THA TEEM. USUALLY AFTAR SHAY COMES."..Donkey..this is Eurosport not M.I.L.F.com
From boyz_rulz_86 on Mon Nov 02 10:15AM
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#45 - Exactly
From who_are_ya_85 on Mon Nov 02 10:17AM
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couldn't be happier to see benitez screw it all up for the scouse!
From stuartxland on Mon Nov 02 10:20AM
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I cant really understand why Harry Redknapp started David Beckham against Arsenal. Fair enough he had a good game in the carling cup but he hasn't delivered a decent display since his goal at the Emirates last year. Since joining from Blackburn for that huge sum he hasn't performed. In the last 12 months he has gone from an England international to Spurs reserves.
From jay8my on Mon Nov 02 10:30AM
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53-I don't think he has done it for a meat based Stew, but I think I understand your point!!
From andy_lycett on Mon Nov 02 10:41AM
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Anybody watch the LA Galaxy last night?
From andy_lycett on Mon Nov 02 10:48AM
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Tesco Johnny as I stated the other day, I ain't the toad.
It used to be you.
Sorry I'm late on this morning, I've just stopped laughing at Loserpool.
In Beneathus we trust !!! hahaha !!!
Keep the faith, bunch of Mongs.
From nikyates on Mon Nov 02 11:03AM
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good review. drogba's dive was an absolute joke.
From themadproducer on Mon Nov 02 11:05AM
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58-Its running on ESPN, very funny.
From andy_lycett on Mon Nov 02 11:07AM
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#53 Jay, David Beckham. Has something happened in the transfer market that I don't know about or is this a joke I'm way outside of? lol
let's hope we have a good November for once. Game against Chelsea to decide the league?
From james_ssmith on Mon Nov 02 11:12AM
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