Luis leaves England with a final message for Jose

“It was never in!”

Good luck!

Although being the worst fans in Europe, doesn’t mean we are poor losers and can’t see the funny side of these pictures from the Guardian.

Oh, if like me your fuming about UEFA report, read Nicky Campbell’s bit from his blog on the Guardian.

What you can learn in a cab ride with a Uefa bigwig

On the day after the Champions League final, I had a fortuitous meeting. In the mayhem of Athens’ perpetual rush hour and teeming acid rain, a taxi from hotel to airport was looking unlikely. Then I saw a smooth, young go-getter grab one and I asked where he was going. “Airport.” A problem shared is a fare halved.

We chatted about the final and it emerged he was a Uefa big nob on the way back to Geneva. “Did you see the three wise men giving away the trophy?” he asked with an impressive sneer. “Berlusconi, Blatter and Platini? My God, what a collection. Platini? We call him Platter at HQ. Says it all. Blatter would never have been welcome when Johansson was in charge. They loathed each other and Blatter hates the whole Champions League anyway.”

I asked him about the ticketing problems and Uefa spokesman William Gaillard’s assertion that it was all the fault of the Liverpool fans. “Gaillard? We’ll see how long he survives. What an embarrassment. Not a clue.” Then he added: “Let me tell you something else. Our promotions company had 46 tickets stolen the night before the game and when some were found we sent a secretary down to identify them and she was held in custody for 10 hours.

“The Greek police are useless. With the fans, they see behaviour they don’t understand and they completely over-react.” I suggested the corporate world got too many tickets.

“No, they don’t get enough. When you consider the money the sponsors put in, they should get a lot more”.

There was a conversational lull when we entered a long, dark tunnel. He craned his neck from the front seat to look at me. “What do you do?”

“I’m a journalist.” There was another silence. “Well, you didn’t hear any of this from me.” Can I just say, I didn’t hear any of this from him. I’ll tell you something else: we both got charged full fare.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/05/31/i_bet_the_great_shankly_would.html

I know it has been a while already, but having finally recovered (sort of) from the CL final, and having read Topboy’s masterful account of Athens and the chaos, I thought we should see what was going on in the Park bar. Attached is proof that Pelo Rojo and I made it to the Park, even if certain Sand based members were missing. We are actually looking quite cheerful giving the situation, but I put that down to the copious beers involved. Needless to say, my travel home was slightly easier than JC and Topboy’s. I think the reason I was able to put such a brave face on it, is that unlike certain clubs (like the mancs) the ‘pool will almost certainly be back with another chance in the next few years, and will win. Roll on Moscow!  

Okay if anyone is interested here is my experience of Athens

http://www.jamieclague.co.uk/blog/2007/05/25/my-athens-experience/

Summary: Greeks Officials Clueless, UEFA wankers, Liverpool Fans YNWA

Couple of local girls…

Some home grown ones…

More at…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/redsintheburgh/sets/72157600262024461/with/512634492/

Various photo’s of banners from Athens. YNWA

Our very own, Top Boys!

http://evild.blogspot.com/2007/05/dubai-reds.html

More at…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/redsintheburgh/sets/72157600262276564/

Tomorrow I set off from Edinburgh to Morecambe (Oh and well done to Morecambe yesterday!) to meet my Dad, then off to John Lennon’s Airport to fly out to Athens without a ticket!

Here is a nice guide of Athens from the Liverpool FC Greek Supporters Club.

http://panji-semirang.blogspot.com/2007/05/movie-of-day.html

http://panji-semirang.blogspot.com/2007/05/now-showing.html

Just another omen for Athens. Saturday saw the return to first team action for a certain H. Kewell, who cast aside his zimmer frame once he knew that a CL final was in the offing. I forsee a blinding 20 minute final cameo, followed by another season on the sidelines. Still, as long as the result is the same! Seriously, it would be good to see Kewell back in action – a few more goals like that one against the third team from Liverpool last season please!

A quick round up of quality posts from this.is.anfield, head over for more!

http://evild.blogspot.com/2007/05/special-one.html

http://evild.blogspot.com/2007/05/banners-for-athens-part-1.html

http://evild.blogspot.com/2007/05/bye-bye-mourinho.html

Oh and Redsintheburgh get a mention too!

http://evild.blogspot.com/2007/05/hitman.html