Kenny Dalglish cannot blame a lack of depth in his squad for Liverpool’s poor run.
Kenny Dalglish cannot blame a lack of depth in his squad for Liverpool’s poor run.
Kenny Dalglish cannot blame a lack of depth in his squad for Liverpool’s poor run.
Kenny Dalglish cannot blame a lack of depth in his squad for Liverpool’s poor run.

Kenny Dalglish's excuses on Liverpool's poor show are tiresome


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Worst excuse - Dalglish

Is it me or is the Liverpool manager losing credibility by the week?

Already this year Kenny Dalglish has described the abuse directed at Manchester United's Patrice Evra over the race row with Luis Suarez as "a bit of banter" and said it was "bang out of order" to suggest Suarez had done anything remotely wrong in not shaking the hand of Evra.

He managed to avoid another public relations gaffe on Saturday but the Scot was clearly not thinking rationally when he attempted to attribute the shock 2-1 defeat at home to relegation-threatened Wigan Athletic to injuries and tiredness.

If Liverpool had not also dropped points at home to Sunderland, Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Swansea City and Stoke City and lost at Bolton Wanderers this season then his argument may have had some substance.

But any manager who is given more than £80 million (Dh466m) to spend on players and blows most of it on signing Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing will elicit very little sympathy when it comes to bleating about the depth of his squad.

Best recovery - Muamba

Simply astonishing. To think the heart of the 23 year old stopped beating on its own for 12 minutes shy of a full game of football and yet he is showing early signs of recovery is testament to the incredible work of the cardiologists and doctors who saved his life.

Fabrice Muamba may not play football again but that will surely not bother his fiancee, Shauna, and young son, Joshua, one iota. When he slumped to the ground at Tottenham Hotspur everybody feared the worst.

It turns out that if you were to suffer the misfortune of a cardiac arrest then the unlikely venue of a Premier League football pitch probably gives you the best chance of survival.

Worst perspective - football

You might not have guessed it by the floral tributes, people talking in the past tense and the hyperbolic outpouring of emotion but Fabrice Muamba is actually alive.

A minute's silence, which has now morphed into a minute's applause, at football stadiums is usually reserved as a tribute for those who have passed away, like Gary Speed, who played more than 110 times for Bolton Wanderers.

At the Reebook Stadium on Saturday fans spent two minutes applauding Muamba.

While he has been undergoing an astonishing recovery in the hands of some best medical experts in the world, the families of seven people killed by a gunman in Toulouse have been mourning their loved ones; a 13 year old boy was shot dead in a protest in Egypt over the suspension of a football team while an Indian footballer died on his way to hospital in a three-wheel rickshaw.

The world does not orbit around the axis of football or the Premier League, although sometimes it does feel like it.

Best interception - Cahill

In most walks of life it is not favourable to be compared to John Terry, the England and Chelsea captain who has fielded allegations, in no particular order, of racism, infidelity, gambling and the criminal activities of his parents.

Yet when it comes to the art of defending being labelled as "Terry-esque" is generally considered a compliment.

Gary Cahill has taken a while to settle at Chelsea following his move from Bolton Wanderers but he is showing signs he might last longer than Andre-Villas Boas.

The desire and speed Cahill showed to manoeuvre himself into a position to perform a sliding, goal-saving block to deny Emmanuel Adebayor on Saturday was reminiscent of Terry at his peak, right down to the thrusting out of the chest in celebration of his point-clinching block.

Worst fixtures - Everton

We all know what a fine job David Moyes has performed at Goodison Park with apparent limited resources and how he deserves a chance at a "bigger club". We are reminded often enough.

So expect more platitudes to come the way of the Scotsman if Everton manage to navigate their way to the semi-final of the FA Cup and maintain their position in the top 10 in the league by the end of the month.

If they don't then Moyes has a ready-made excuse.

Saturday's fine win at Swansea City, who had previously been hailed as the Barcelona of the Premier League, was part of a sequence that will see Everton play seven matches in 21 days.

And people wonder why the England players are so fatigued when it comes to a major championship at the end of the season.

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ENGLAND SQUAD

For first two Test in India Joe Root (captain), Jofra Archer, Moeen Ali, James Anderson , Dom Bess, Stuart Broad , Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes. Reserves James Bracey, Mason Crane, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Robinson, Amar Virdi.

Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar. 

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1:  Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6:  The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.

September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29:  At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite  a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa. 

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.

December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.