I've not given up on Sturridge either. We'll see how he gets on for the rest of the season.

im a realist not a dreamer we have no suarez to scare the **** out of other teams

I like those answers as they give just the right tone - belief in our club tempered with realism. Looking at the table knowing who we have already played away and who our manager is it possible but lets be honest it is not that likely,. We do not look convincing at home and always likely to throw points away against just about anyone but you never know, after all most (including me) say that the most likely winners are MCFC and you saw what we did to them just a week ago.

I do think tho JK needs to bring a signing or two in to improve us further - we need a player at such a level like Suarez was who can inspire those around him to up their level too - hopefully JK has someone suitable in mind - but it may have to wait till summer as they may not be available in January.

Today seemed poor from all accounts (I have not seen it yet but am soon to watch it on MOTD) but no Coutinho, and Lucas meant we were missing key reasons for our recent upsurge in form. With them back and Hendo and Studge getting up to their proper levels I know we can play a lot better. It was the sort of game where getting the win was the important thing

You "need a Suarez"? How likely is that do you think?

Suarez is currently rated as in the best 10 players in the world I would say so it is not likely we would be able to sign a player in the top 10 of the world that's clear - but when we got him altho he had the talent Suarez was not yet rated at that level - that is what I mean, We need a player maybe in the top 100 in the world but who has the potential to get higher and help others round him to get higher too - as Suarez undoubtedly did. The truth is that Suarea's influence on the level of the rest of the team was almost as important as his actual play. A multi talented player who works hard and has a team mentality is like gold dust and that is what Suarez was and is what ideally I want to be brought in to the club. JK will know which Bundesleague players for instance fit that description and so I will leave it to him to decide who we get.

we bought alonso before he was world class
we bought mash before he was world class
we bought suarez before he was world class
and it looks the same with coutinho.

we need to buy players turn into world class players as city have 3 or 4

It's mad to count any team who's only 6pts off the top as out of the title race, but at the same time realism suggests it's highly unlikely. What should be obtainable and our target is top 4. Of course if the season carries on the way it's gone so far being top 4 contenders come the end of the season pretty much means we'll be in the title hunt as well.

Three more points, Was a scrappy game but glad to see the returns, A busy month ahead I wont complain about more of the same.

There's a maximum of 15 points to be won this month. It's not unreasonable to think we could get 12 or 13 points. You don't know how they'll be (or us) when we get to them but Leicester is one fixture we could drop points. A Tony Pulolis side is never an easy fixture and we all know the trouble Big Sam gives us and we hot Sunderland away at the end of the month.

So there are potential setbacks but with Klopp there I'm not as nervous as I'd have been a few months ago. Especially with Hendo coming back, and hopefully Sturridge can keep fit for a few days.

Texeira? - this player is often on my mind as I think he has a lot of talent and in his only game so far for the first team V Bournemouth in the last round of the league cup he showed it. BR in his wisdom decided to leave him out of the 25 man squad for the EL whilst including some players whose first team potential was far more questionable like Randall, Chirella (or whatever he is called) and Branagan - to me complete madness but there we are it has happened and cannot be undone. I sense JK agrees but he cannot say so in public as he too seems to rate Tex.

Which brings me to the line up V S'ton this Wed - as Tex cannot play in the EL I think he has a case for starting this game - both to give him a chance to show what he can do and to rest Firmino and Cout for the more vital PL games. I do think Tex is a good alternative to Cout as he is the same type of player - but the league cup this season has become quite a good chance of a trophy for us and so we cannot afford to play an experimental team really = a big dilemma.

Anyone else got any views or any suggested line ups for Wednesday?

If we're serious about trying for the final, I don't think he'll make that many changes. There isn't much wiggle room for the defence anyway, atm. If he wants to give Can or Milner a rest before Newcastle, then perhaps Henderson or Allen might get a start. It also wouldn't be a bad game to give Sturridge some match fitness, but not convinced he'll start.

Possible team: Bogdan// Clyne, Toure, Lovren, Moreno// Allen, Can, Henderson// Ibe, Lallana, Benteke.

Our U 21's are up against Man United tonight @ 7pm (live on LFCTV), for those with little idea of the skills they have, it would be a good match to watch. Two lads I rate highly - Canos and Wilson are both out on loan, but there are others in there with decent quality.

As for this discussion on us getting into top 4, right now it's still open enough that most teams have a chance at that. End of December will be a good marker to see who's likely to be where, but for now, even teams as low as 12/13 place still have a chance, not a likely one, but still!

We were lucky to have a win when 6 teams above us got a draw this week - we could do with more of that!

Steven Gerrard's been pictured training at Melwood today.

99% of our signings have been at a time before they were world class. Sadly for us, most of them stayed that way or got worse...

Again, putting 2013-14 purely down to Suarez as many have done is an insult to BR and the other players - he didn't come to life until the team was playing to his strengths and other new signings started sharing the creative/goal-scoring burden. And a lot has to be said for mentality, as Klopp is proving and BR proved during that epic season. It's how you react when you fall just short when true character is exposed. A world class mentality can often make up for a lack of world class talent and a world class team doesn't always mean eleven world class players. The same principle applies to a league championship winning side. The Everton side of the mid Eighties was a great example of what attitude, belief, chemistry and a sprinkle of talent can produce - the team nade the players rather than the players makibg the team.

We've got a fighting chance.

Now there's a short clip, what a special moment.

I can't wait until he is back as part of the coaching team

Enrique playing for our U21's, and Man U have Fellaini! lol

As is Rossiter.

You often express this viewpoint and for the sake of peace I stay quiet but it is not one I agree with - Luis Suarez being at our club was by far the main reason why we came 2nd that season. Not BR, not any other player (even SG) - simply Luis Suarez. You also talk as if Suarez was some kind of failure till BR came along - nonsense - given the level of the Hodgson team he came into he did very well to achieve anything in the first year or two but he undoubtedly did. Of course the 31 goal season was his best - but part of that was due to his underlying anger at the way he was portrayed after the Ivan bite at the end of the previous season. He wanted to show the watching and largely anti UK public how good he really was - I think he succeeded

Having someone of ability who can lift others to heights above their normal level is a key to success for any club and that is what LS did - and what JK is beginning to do now cos to inspire you do not have to be a player you can be a manager. Of course the BR fans will dispute it but I look at the performances under BR post Suarez (and there were way over 50 of them) and under JK post BR and I think it is clear that LS especially and also JK have something special which BR largely could not replicate. SAF and some key players did it for MUFC, Jose, Drogba, JT, Frank ...etc did it for CFC, Shearer did it for BRFC, Clough for NFFC, Tony Adams, Henry and Wenger for AFC, Aguero, Kompany and Silva did it for MCFC ...etc - leaders, inspirations. To win the PL I have concluded that you need players or a manager at that kind of level

I heard on the radio today that JK has said the 2 biggest leaders in the LFC dressing room are Lucas and Sakho - sounds about right to me and yet neither of whom BR saw fit to put in the team at the start of the season Must say something about his judgment.

Despite all this I am not that anti BR but I have to call it as it is and say that to get clubs to win the PL you need special people. LS was such a special person and if he had stayed I think we would have won the PL, similarly JK comes over as having the kind of persona to inspire to the required levels, BR whilst having some talent was nowhere near that level

If you look at each individual month on Ultimate I'm in 3rd place on every single one. It's December in a few hours and I find myself in 4th. How?!


Whoever Michael Stewart is with his stupid LivePool 17 point advantage needs to remove himself from this league I'm in before I inform Jamie Vardy that he's been chatting sh*t about him.

They might be related so might need to take Alan Stewart (whose team has "munch" in the name, BTW!) out, too. Orch is safe, she's only 136 points ahead of me. Can do that in a week.

Made me chuckle, but you do need to pull yourself together for the next transfer window Munch, you can make a lot of changes then. All, apart from me are first timers at this, and you do have to select your squad with a half season in mind to do well. Last season I had 9 at one point on the injured/banned list, but I still did OK.

Keep going, next season you you might even win some money!

I had a nice looking squad at the start, then half of them got crippled or...well...Chelsea happened. The loan system's been kind to me so far. I seem to be doing alright but then others do even more alright when I do.

You know what they say. Next year will be my year.

It might be, if I don't play!

In other news, Flannagan is back training after being out for 18 months according to SSN, excellent!

Watch Flanno teach Sturridge how to stay fit.

I implore you to actually read what I wrote again as I sense your legendary and almost extremist pro-Kenny/pro-Suarez stance has clouded your appreciation of what I actually wrote rather than how you interpreted it.

I said we were not playing to Suarez's strengths prior to BR's reshaping of the side. I struggle to believe anyone can argue with that - as I've said before, I distinctly remember Sky cut-aways of Luis staring upwards as the ball was launched towards Carroll. BR's style suited Suarez better, amd the introduction of Coutinho and Sturridge plus Gerrard's deeper role and playing Sterling regularly enhanced that even further.

Therefore to say Luis Suarez was solely responsible for our 2nd place finish is, in my opinion, an act of denial of what BR and Suarez's team mates achieved that season having set the foundations during the previous campaign.

I did not say at any point Suarez was a failure - it was the system we deployed that failed him. And to note I rate Suarez as the most magical player we've had at this club for a quarter of a century. Yet to give him sole credit for us finishing 2nd is way off the mark - others were exceptional that season too and it was very much a team effort.

Having read your clarification I would say that we disagree less than I thought we did in that in that post I read more praise of LS than I think I have ever read from you. I still feel as if we differ a bit but as I say not as much as I actually thought.

Kenny? - I love the guy more than any other living man associated with our club I admit that but now once the dust has settled I can evaluate his second spell as manager more fairly. Having read about tactics and coaching I would say he did not have that much input - leaving it more to Steve Clarke (who I think is a good man), KKs biggest input was passion for the club, giving the players an example of all that the club stood for (read Craig Bellamy's book to learn about that) and picking the team. I think looking at LFC 87/88 in his first spell as manager which is perhaps our best ever team in terms of style of play he does know how to set up an attractive team but to get us out of the Hodgson (and partially Rafa) doldrums he chose a more pragmatic way. Carroll was a disappointment in his level of play when at LFC (at WHU in his few appearances he seems better) and KK did not always pick him so the team was not always built round him. He did always pick LS though, as everyone (well except Batdude ) could see what an exceptional player he was. Even though we had many poor displays in the second half of 12/13 under KK in just 18 months it should be said that we had many great results too - 3 wins away at CFC, knocking both EFC and MUFC out the FAC, winning the League Cup beating MCFC the reigning champions over 2 legs on the way, an away win at AFC in the PL, getting to the FAC final so I think those who dismiss his reign as a failure are ignoring the facts. You also have to remember where we were the day he took over - in a worse place than I can ever remember LFC being. I know people will not like me referring to it again (as I feel like I am a lone voice on DS in my view of what went on) but I also cannot minimise the disruptive influence of the racism stuff and its fall out. KK was vilified by all for his so called bad PR and that totally derailed the one full season he got. I do not want to discuss it again as people know what I think and I know what others think - we will agree to differ but what cannot be denied I think is that it had a big negative effect on the way the season went.

Sorry this post is getting too long - but to briefly go onto BR, I think the way he utilised LS was great, no disagreement there. I still think the nearly season was more to do with LS inspiring his team mates to raise their levels than BRs motivational skills - but you are right the players on the pitch suited LSs game more - Coutinho and Sturridge in particular. If you analyse BR after 2 seasons at LFC you would call him a success but looking at the larger picture of his whole reign it is hard to do so. If you look at LFC under BR post LS it is hard to label BR as some kind of master tactician cos in almost every game we played relatively poorly - yes I know he had injuries to key players but every team has them and they are still able to perform at a decent level - which LFC did not do for the last season and a bit of BRs reign. The current players are prob not as good as at the so called top clubs but they are not that bad either and I do think JK will be able to achieve quite a bit with them - we have seen that already and most of us are looking to the future with some excitement and optimism again