Back on their perch – Part 4 | @RossBell1984

In the absence of real football, Ross is looking to win a first Premier League title for Liverpool. It’s going quite well – catch up with last week here and then read on…

Well the last update ended on a good note, we are top of the Premier League and in the latter stages of the UEFA and League Cup so what could go wrong? Let’s find out together.

Back at Anfield for the visit of Coventry and its a routine 3-1 victory. Owen scores after 2 minutes and we are that comfortable i decide to make 3 changes at HT. Viktor Onopko then gets himself injured, he does seem to do that a lot but thankfully we see the game out easy enough.

The FA Cup could be a good source of more silverware this season and we face off against everyone’s favourite Millwall in the 3rd round. I ring the changes to give the back ups a game and we are 4-0 up at HT. It finishes 5-0, well and truly job done.

From one cup to another and it’s Bury in the League cup quarter final its starts badly when captain and England(!) international Dom Matteo is sent off after 20 mins then 5 mins later top scorer and assist maker Owen is injured. Bury then get a penalty and go ahead 1-0 at HT. McManaman levels it up before Emmers gets a second yellow and joins Dom in the bath. Nothing happens in extra time and we then lose on penalties after Fowler and Leonhardsen both miss. This feels like a turning point and not in a good way.


It’s back to the real business of the league, injuries and suspensions are starting to bite as we are down to the bare bones. We strike late through Fowler but Gayle strikes even later and its 2 points dropped.

The games keep coming as Spurs rock up at Anfield and we play out a ding dong battle which we ultimately win 4-2 but pick up another injury and it’s Robert Page’s turn this week.

Meanwhile I’m just making boyhood dreams come true.

FA Cup is the name of the day and we take on the might of Charlton, Owen opens the scoring after 2 mins, Fowler adds a second after half hour and Robbie Keane fulfills a boyhood dream to play for Liverpool from the bench for the second half. He does nothing but a 3-1 win sees us through.

Back to EPL action as we take on Leicester for what feels like the 4th time this season, 1-0 win easy.

A 2-1 away loss to Blackburn puts the skids on our decent run and without looking I already know Man U have gone another weekend without dropping any points. We fall to second.

Swindon away in the FA Cup doesn’t prove too tricky and a comfortable 3-0 win is secured thanks to Emmers, Page and Owen. A young Argentinian by the name of Riquelme makes his debut as well.

Unfortunately, we miss the chance to go top of the league after Man U can only draw with Villa we manage a 0-0 draw with Chelsea and honestly it could of been much worse they battered our goal the entire game.

Bolton make things very easy for us by getting two players sent off inside ten minutes. It doesn’t take long for Owen and Fowler to take advantage as we ease to a simple 4-0 win.

Finally for this week then is the return of the UEFA Cup, we drew Lazio which is going to be tricky they’ve got a solid squad but thanks to goals from Owen and Riedle we take a 2-0 lead to Rome for the second leg.

So to round up this week we are out of the league cup thanks to Bury who coincidentally also beat Arsenal in the Semi Finals! We are second in the league, 3 points off Man U and still in the FA and UEFA cups. Could be worse I guess. Until next week.

Did you hear Ross on Champ Man on the Post episode 3 yet? Listen now!

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Back on their perch – Part 3 | @RossBell1984

Here’s Ross with your Thursday fun. He’s trying to win the league with Liverpool and the way the world is going, Ross might do it first. Let’s see how he’s getting on…

I’m back to write the wrongs of my previous save, and to also try and make Liverpool successful but honestly that’s secondary to rebuilding my reputation.

UEFA cup action first up and the home leg vs Vejle, They take a shock lead before making two substitutions in the 26th min. European football is weird. We lose on the night but win 6-4 on aggregate, I’ll take it

Derby in the league next and after a dismal showing in Europe David James is back out of the team in place of trusty Brad Friedel, 2-0 at HT 3-0 at FT simple.

It would be nice if Man U dropped even just a couple of points though.

Away at Villa next and Bosnich is in inspired form but we somehow keep Yorke quiet and Jardel clambers off the bench to score the winner

Ask and you shall receive.

With Man U up next that’s a welcome bit of news. 0-0 at HT with McManaman only getting a booking for elbowing Roy Keane in the face, I’ll be honest I’m all for that. 3 of their midfield get booked in the second half and their tactics are clear. Obviously they score and we can’t find a way through.

Leicester in the UEFA cup makes for easy work, 3-0 away win, job done

Wednesday on a Saturday, McManaman scores in the 1st half before Fowler scores right after the break. Friedel consistently scores 5’s as he never has to do anything.

Vill in the League cup is next for us, Michael Thomas has just departed for 525k he was maybe the last remaining player from the last time Liverpool won the league. We beat Villa 4-1 in the cup anyway.

Back in League action at The Dell, Victor Onopko departs with an injury inside 20 mins so England international Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock steps in to action and disappointingly that’s all that happens.

Second leg UEFA cup football is next. its all action with goals galore but a 2-2 draw is enough to see us through to the next round.

Finally then for this week is a trip to Upton Park, a first half OG from Trevor Sinclair helps before Bakayoko and Owen make it 3-0 Samassi Abou scores late on but 3-1 wins the day.

Man Utd can only draw at home to Chelsea so that win puts us back on top to end this update. Not a bad place to be I guess. Until next week as Bon Jovi once sang Keep the Faith…

Back on the Perch – Part 2 | @Rossbell1984

Ross is our reigning CM Cup champion but his reputation was in tatters after an abysmal season with Leeds. Last week, he took over at Liverpool in a bid to win the Premier League. Let’s see how that is going in part two…

The ghosts of saves past arrive at Anfield looking to make me look foolish, not again boys, not again. Fowler and Bakayoko net in the first half before Jardel scores in the second half to seal a comfortable 3-0 victory.

Back in UEFA Cup action next, I make a few changes upfront to give Owen and Fowler a rest and young Gudnason scores 2 on his debut. Akranes manager also makes 3 changes in the 33rd min….. odd.

Away at Barnsley next , the starters come back in up front. Owen gets us off to a flier and we don’t look back from there. Towies Mark Wright getting a stupid sending off in the 90th min seems a bit pointless.

That win sends us top with Arsenal and Man U very close behind. Thankfully it’s Crystal Palace up next so we should remain top. Bakayoko and Fowler make it 2-0 at HT, a theme I’m enjoying to be honest. Redknapp gets his first of the season after coming on to replace the injured Emmers before Jardel adds a fourth!

A huge test next away at Arsenal who are 2 points behind in 2nd place. I’ll be honest here we’ve been stupidly unlucky with this one. Adams scores from a corner in the first half before Jardel saves the day late on. A 9 for Seaman and Adams should tell you exactly how the game went

I should bloody hope so!

Back in the UEFA cup and we are drawn against Vejle Boldklub which Google reliably informs me is in Denmark, anyway 3 up at HT a final score of 4-1 means the kids will get a run out at Anfield in the second leg.

Just the small case of the Merseyside derby up next and surprisingly Razor Ruddock puts us 1 up after 30 mins and that’s it, a relatively dull affair with only 3 yellow cards, best derby in football apparently.

Finally for this week then is a League cup tie at home to Bolton, the ageless Peter Beardsley scores early on before terrible pundit Steve McManaman levels to send us to extra time. A couple of the Bolton players obviously don’t fancy penalties and we ease to a 4-1 win thanks to their ill discipline.

So we end this update top of the League level on points with Man U, cruising in the UEFA cup and in the next round of the league cup, What could go wrong?

You can follow Ross on Twitter @RossBell1984

Back on the Perch – Part 1 | @Rossbell1984

Ross is back with a new series, trying to redeem himself after the Leeds disaster. He’s trying to bring a Premier League title to Liverpool 22 years early. With Fowler, McManaman and a young Michael Owen at his disposal, can he make a run at the title in 97/98? As that’ll involve beating Man Utd, the title is inspired from an Alex Ferguson quote…

I’m back! After that Leeds United disaster I bet you thought you’d never see me around these parts again, well think again buddy I’m back to redeem myself. The Challenge – Win the Premier League with Liverpool before 2020 because honestly it shouldn’t have taken them this long.

Playing the unconventional 5-1-2-2 formation this squad looks decent going forward but could use some help at the back so let’s first look at the business I tried to get done before the season started.

The tactic required an out and out CM and although he’s 31 you’ll be very familiar with Marc Emmers, now I did say we were good attacking wise but then I saw Mario Jardel and once I’d gotten the image of him lumbering around the Reebok stadium in his later years I pulled the trigger. I also signed Bakayoko because why not? I did shore up the defence with the classic signings of Onopko (Injured for 3 months the day after he signed) and Robert Page, always a class signing.

Leaving was a bunch of kids and Danny Murphy because we know what he becomes.
Game one is at home to West Ham, Fowler is out to start the season but with Owen and Riedle up front we shouldn’t struggle, 4-1 comfortable win. Friedel only scoring a 5 rating is I can only assume down to a lack of things to do.

Coventry next and as I proved with my Leeds save I can’t beat these collection of jobbers. A 2-1 loss is not exactly what I had planned.

Wimbledon next and an easy 2-0 win follows, it should of been much much more with Emmers missing 2 penalties in this one, hence Sullivan’s MOTM performance.

Spurs away next and another comfortable 2-0 and another opposition goalie picking up the MOTM award. Riedle has been in cracking form and Walker popped us in an OG to put the game to bed. A 9 rating with an OG!

Leicester next and we are 3 up inside 7 mins. Why did Roy Evans find this so hard!?

In the Leeds save Newcastle battered me 4-1 twice, no such luck for the Geordies this time. Fowler makes his season debut and scores right away, which is lucky as Riedle is out for 4 months with an injury.

Uefa Cup game that I forgot all about is up next and Bakayoko finally does something.

Chelsea next and again another team that routinely beat me in the Leeds save (although tbf that was most teams) we fall behind to a Vialli goal before Page gets sent off but there’s no stopping the front two. Excellent fight back, again Mr Evans what were you doing exactly?

And finally for this update we have a routine 4-1 away win at Bolton, should of been more, again another keeper getting a 9 rating! Battered!

I’ll be back again next week with hopefully more wins. Fingers crossed!

You can follow Ross on Twitter @RossBell1984

Marching on Together – Part 3 | @RossBell1984

Ross is crawling to the end of the season with Leeds. He started out with such high hopes but now the question is, can he keep his beloved Leeds in the Premier League? Catch up with part two here.

Here we go then, will i see out the season as Leeds manager? Will we maintain Premier League football? read on to find out.

Newcastle 4 Leeds 1 for the second time this season. Goals from Batty and Speed just feel like the game is having a laugh now

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Marching on Together – Part 2 | @RossBell1984

Ross Bell is looking to bring his 2019 CM Cup winning form to Elland Road. The fixture list wasn’t kind to start the season but as it starts to ease up, can Leeds climb the table? Catch up with part 1 here

We are back in West Yorkshire trying to rewrite the wrongs of Leeds United, After a less than stellar start last time out let’s look to improve this time.

Walsall in the cup next, should be easy…. looks like we should probably think about stopping Roger Boli in the second leg.

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Marching on Together – Part 1 | @RossBell1984

Ross Bell is the reigning CM9798 Cup champion and he wanted to bring a blog to the table. I’ve set him the challenge of taking his beloved Leeds to the heights they reached under David O’Leary.

Leeds head into the 1997/98 season on the back of a dismally dull 96/97 campaign where George Graham led the team to 11th place with an almighty 28 goals scored in 38 games! My first aim for the 97/98 campaign is to top that goal total, the summer signing of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink should help. An added caveat for this season given to me by our CM overlord is that I can only sign players that Leeds actually signed during that season. Thankfully the game is updated with all the signings for the season already in the squad so i can get on with the task of trying to finish in the top half and score more than last season, should be easy right …

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