Liverpool 2008/09

Good man Shan. You’re dead right.

http://newsfeed.tcm.ie/media/images/l/liverpoolfansmichaelshields.jpg

The Football Association will not take any formal action against Liverpool after their players wore T-shirts carrying a message of support for a fan who was jailed for the attempted murder of a Bulgarian waiter in 2005.

Liverpool players wore the T-shirts in the warm-up for the Barclays Premier League match against West Ham on Monday.

Michael Shields was sentenced to 15 years in prison after being convicted of the attempted murder of Martin Georgiev in Bulgaria on a holiday taken after seeing his side win the Champions League final in Istanbul.

Liverpool’s players were seen wearing ’Free Michael now’ T-shirts while warming up ahead of Monday’s televised 0-0 draw with West Ham at Anfield.

Despite another man confessing to the attack, Shields was locked up and his sentence was reduced to 10 years on appeal. He was transferred to the UK to serve the remainder of his sentence, but his supporters have never halted their campaign to prove his innocence.

An FA spokesman said: “We have spoken to Liverpool Football Club today about this matter. We understand that Michael Shields’ case is a very emotive issue and one that many Liverpool players and fans feel strongly about.

“Having heard the club’s explanation we will not be taking any formal action, and we are satisfied that they understand the sensitivities around football matches being used as a platform for political messages.”

A judge at London’s High Court decided last month that Shields’ case should be heard in full by three judges and a judicial review hearing is due to begin tomorrow.

When the lad who “confessed” to the murder makes himself available to be tried in Bulgaria then Shields’ case will be reasonably strong. Until then the thing just smacks of xenophobia from the facts that are in the public domain.

Didn’t the confessee subsequently retract his confession

I’ve read a fair bit about this lad’s case over the years and there seems to be a raft of inconsistencies on both sides. I don’t think you can conclude with certainty from the evidence that it’s the open and shut miscarriage of justice case supporters of Shields say it is.

not only did he retract his confession, his initial confession ddnt tie back to the facts in the case
also there were 9 witnesses including the victim who testified in court that it was shields
its hard to say if there is a miscarriage of justice without hearing all the evidence but there is no way that LFC know for sure either & the whole thing just seems like a cause that the fans are getting behind without knowing the ins & outs of it

Robbie Keane has been left out today. It appears Liverpool’s front 4 are lining up like this:

Kuyt

Babel___Gerrard__Benayoun

No surprise there. Its annoying though that Kuyt has proved a more more effictive player than Robbie. Dont like the head on him.

Cunt Cunt Murdering Basque Cunt

Alonso pops up with the winning goal more than likely.

Presume Alonso scored the goal sledge…

This is fucking brutal from Liverpool. Dull, drab, uninspiring stuff. I know its ewood park but if you’re talking about winning the league you should find a way to rise above it.

Say what you want about the Israelis, but if you want people killed off they’re the ones to call. Good man Yossi.

:smiley:

Hold on here. Santa Cruz makes it 1-2.

Come on the Rovers, one last push

Poor, poor showing from the pool today. Can’t wait for the new year, the sunshine always seems to put a bit of life back into us. Pressure on Robbie now. Seemed a bit harsh not to give him a crack today but I suppose Kuyt would run for another two hours if you let him.

Pool won 3.1. Thats all that matters. If you had drawn or lost that would be cause for concern.

Blackburn are a right shower of cunts. It’s some reflection on the Premier League that Liverpool are top.

Chelsea’s away record is stunning at this stage, wonder if it’ll ever be beaten. Robinho is the only player to score against Chelsea away from home in the league since the tail end of last season.

Paul McShane scoring a cracking header against you at anfield. Is that one of the signs of the apocalypse?

Cracking 50 mins of action at anfield so far, possibly the best first half of the season so far. Liverpool back from 2-0 down after 22 mins to 2-2 by the 32nd minute. Nice change from the damp fart of a game last weekend.