Angry LFC star blasts: Newcastle's James Perch is a 'Joke'...

Injured defender Glen Johnson has slammed James Perch for his disgraceful play-acting during Newcastle's 2-0 win over Liverpool earlier today. During a fracas with Pepe Reina, Perch crumpled to ground like he'd just been shot in the face, yet video replays show there was nowhere near enough contact to cause such an extreme reaction. Reina was stupid to lose his cool and attempt a Zidane right in front of the referee, but Perch's shameful histrionics probably influenced the referee's decision to show the Spaniard a red card. Reina Red Card (skip to 3:49) Johnson was disgusted by Perch's play-acting, and tweeted : "What have I just seen. Is Perch for real?!?!?! #Joke" Perch should be embarrassed by that; it's almost as bad as Rivaldo's play-acting at against Turkey at the World Cup in 2002: Overall, Reina probably deserved the red card for his stupidity and intent, and Newcastle deserved to win the game, but that doesn't change the fact that P

"He stumbled" - Dalglish defends Carroll over blatant dive...

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has defended Andy Carroll over his obvious dive against Newcastle, arguing that the 35m striker 'stumbled' in the box, and did not deliberately go down to get a penalty. Dalglish's season has been defined by pig-headed support of the indefensible, and in his press conference after Liverpool's shambolic 2-0 defeat to Newcastle, he was at it again. When asked if he'd be having a word with Carroll about the dive - for which he was booked - Dalglish claimed : "I don't think he [Carroll] went down deliberately to try and get a penalty. If you watch it, he was struggling to stay upright when he was running onto it. He said he never went down deliberately; he just stumbled over". Stumbled? If you believe that you'll believe anything. It was as clear-cut a deliberate dive as you're likely to see: That wasn't the funniest part of the interview though. When he was asked about Danny Simpson's alleged hand-bal

FT: VIDEO - Newcastle 2-0 LFC - Carroll's dive; Reina's red card; Cisse's goals

Newcastle are beating Liverpool 1-0 at half time in today's vital Premier League game. Andy Carroll is a man under pressure at the moment; with only 1 league goal since October 2011, he's desperate for a goal, but but he's not going to help himself by cheating to try get one. As the video below shows, Carroll dived to try and win a penalty in the first half, and was deservedly yellow carded for it. What was he thinking?! It would've been easier to just stay on his feet and score. Jaimie Kanwar

Defender claims: LFC star 'may' return to his old club. Let him go...?

Anfield legend Mark Lawrenson argued last week that Liverpool should swap Andy Carroll for Newcastle's Demba Ba , a deal that I' sure most fans would love to see happen. With the recent arrival at Newcastle of Senegalese countryman Papiss Cisse, the likelihood of Ba leaving the North East seems slim at the moment. However, Newcastle defender Darren Perch is convinced that Carroll will return to his old club at some point. Speaking to The Mirror , Perch - who is set to start this afternoon's game against Liverpool in place of the injured Fabricio Coloccini - admitted that Newcastle's players were 'disappointed' when Carroll left, and added: "I can see a time when Andy may want to come back to Newcastle. He’s only young and has a lot of playing years in front of him. He’s a Geordie lad and had a good rapport with everyone at the club. The fans would welcome him back but it is up to him" It seems inevitable that Carroll will return to Newcastle at some po

Why Nelson Mandela is to blame for LFC's 22-year failure to win the league

Liverpool fans have blamed various people over the years for the club's 22-year failure to win the league, with the likes of David Moores; Rick Parry; Graeme Souness; Gerard Houllier; Tom Hicks; Rafa Benitez, Alex Ferguson and Roy Hodgson regularly receiving harsh criticism. The truth is, however, that none of these people are responsible; the real blame for Liverpool's failure to bring home the trophy Bill Shankly famously called ‘our bread and butter’ lies solely at the feet of one man: Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa. As you will see from the startling confluence of events, Mr Mandela’s negative influence on the club simply cannot be denied, and I will illustrate this with cold, hard facts: * In 1959 , Bill Shankly took control of a club that was languishing in the English second division. At this time, Mr Mandela was a free man. * In 1962 , Mr Mandela was arrested and imprisoned after being on the run for 17 months. The same year, Liverpool won promoti

LFC Legend admits: £20m flop's goal failure at Anfield is 'amazing'...

Liverpool face Newcastle United this weekend in another must-win Premier League game, and fans will be hoping that Kenny Dalglish's under-performing signings *finally* start earning their salaries by helping the club get a good result. The Newcastle game will Stewart Downing's 30 league match of the season, and despite having more minutes on the pitch than most other players in the squad, he's still yet to score or create a goal, something Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson finds incredibly hard to believe. In his weekly column for the BBC , Lawro admitted that Liverpool's league form has been 'extremely poor', and bemoaned the absence of defensive stalwart Daniel Agger, claiming the team had 'missed him' greatly. At the start of the season, if someone had said 'Downing will go 29 league games without scoring or creating a goal', I'm note sure anyone - myself included - would've believed it; but that's the situation, and Lawro acknowled