Column about Steven Gerrard in the S*n?

[Red_Polo]

I've re-edited the title. This sounds totally ****ed. I won't lay any blame at anyone's feet until I've heard more, but something is very ****ing wrong somewhere here.

[kev776]

I have just spoken to Amy at the press office: 0151 2305721

She said: There is no way Steven Gerrard has spoken directly to the Scum because club policy does not allow players to comment in this Newspaper (?) but she is going to raise it with the head of Press when he gets his arse back in the office. She has promised to call me back with the official answer.

I did ask her, if it has been plagerised from other souces and made to look like comments from him, a note should be put on the Offy to dismiss it.

I await the call with breath abaited.

[Dan]

Rupert-style work Kev, well done

[The Glove]

I think Coops should go out and buy a copy to see if its true.

[tsb]

It's clearly a quote ripped from somewhere else.

[DeeGame]

I have the piece of **** in front of me, and no I didnt buy it.

It is a double page article about Torres, rotation and a comparison between torres and rush. It is boardered by a Heading of Gerrards pic as though he has a colum with the paper.

If true, I will get rid of my Gerrard shirt tonight and my sons, if it is made up, someone needs to act.

I am going to phone Dot Cotton to find out what the **** is going on.

I am ****ing raginmg over this.

Its basically 2 articles from DP merged into 1:

Steven Gerrard: Teams fear destruction by Torres
Sep 27 2007 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

STEVEN GERRARD has likened Liverpool’s record signing Fernando Torres to Anfield goalscoring legend Ian Rush – and believes Premier League defenders are scared the Spaniard will “destroy” them.

Torres smashed a second-half hat-trick to send Reading crashing out of the Carling Cup at the Madejski Stadium on Tuesday.

The Spain striker had been left out of coach Rafael Benitez’s starting line-up for the previous two Premier League matches against Portsmouth and Birmingham but returned with a vengeance in their 4-2 success over the Royals.

Torres has now scored six goals in as many starts since his £20million arrival from Atletico Madrid in the summer and Gerrard saw glimpses of Liverpool’s all-time top goalscorer in the hard-working Spaniard’s performance.

“He reminds a bit of Ian Rush,” said the Anfield skipper. “I know Ian Rush was a great striker, and I don’t want to put much pressure on Fernando as far as goals are concerned.

“But Rushy got a lot of credit for working hard for team, tracking back and not giving defenders a minute on the ball, and he’s similar in a lot ways.

“There’s a lot of pressure on his shoulders, and as captain of the team I don’t want to put any more on him. But if we keep on delivering good throughballs and give him good service, he has shown so far that he’s a good finisher. I’m sure he’ll hit his own personal targets.”

Torres suffered a bruising evening up against robust Reading centre-backs Andre Bikey and Michael Duberry.

But while bemoaning the lack of protection offered by referee Martin Atkinson on the evening, Gerrard reckons Torres can expect more of the same treatment from Premier League defenders aware the Spaniard can “destroy” them.

“I was slightly disappointed in the referee,” he added. “I thought he could have been a little bit more protective of Fernando, I counted seven or eight bad challenges from behind and he should have had a penalty as well. It’s a referee’s responsibility to give a striker slightly more protection, but I suppose he’ll get a lot more treatment like that because if defenders don’t get close to him, then he’ll destroy them.

“He didn’t react to what was happening and kept coming back, and I’m sure if you ask the two Reading defenders they’ll say that’s the hardest workout they’ve had this season.

“Away from home he is going to be marked really tight. He’ll receive knocks, kicks and bruises and he’ll have to keep giving as good as he gets like he did on Tuesday night.

“Foreign strikers normally get a bit of stick about when they get kicked they go hiding. But he got murdered all night by their centre-halves and kept going back and going back, and worked so hard for the team.

“I thought he was awesome. He thoroughly deserved his goals, but the most impressive thing for me was his attitude. It’s something he has shown from the first day he arrived here, and that’s what surprised me the most. I knew he was a good striker and

“I knew he was quick, but what I didn’t realise his work-rate and attitude, and his willpower and character are tremendous.”

Torres himself believes his second goal was the pick of his memorable hat-trick.

“I am really happy and I hope that there will be plenty more goals to come,” he said. “What I achieved against Reading was special, but it was a team effort and the most important thing is that we are now in the next round of the Carling Cup.

“It was a tough match, with strong marking, but the key to our victory was finding open spaces, and also the quality of the final ball from (Sebastian) Leto, (John Arne) Riise and Gerrard.

“If I had to choose a favourite, it would be my second goal of the night, I think that it was the best of the three. For my first goal, I managed to get in front of the defender before sliding the ball across the keeper into the far corner.

“Riise picked me out in the box for my second, and the credit for the third goal should go to Gerrard, who put me clean through with only the keeper to beat.”

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/...4375-19853320/

and....

Steven Gerrard: I’m getting back to my best
Sep 27 2007 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

STEVEN GERRARD has reassured Liverpool supporters he is coming back to his best after admitting to playing through the pain barrier in recent games.

The Anfield skipper has been hampered by the broken toe suffered five weeks ago during the Champions League qualifier in Toulouse.

Rafael Benitez was unhappy a not fully-fit Gerrard appeared in all but 19 minutes of England’s Euro 2008 qualifying double header against Israel and Russia earlier this month.

Gerrard continued to struggle with the problem and was a subdued presence as the Anfield side produced a poor performance in Porto before labouring to a goalless draw at Birmingham City on Saturday.

However, the 27-year-old believes he is now recovered from the injury after training without pain for the last few days.

“I’m feeling a lot better now,” said Gerrard. “The last three or four days, I’ve been totally pain-free from my toe.

“I’ve struggled during the last two or three games and have been getting a lot of pain from it.

“But I’ve been training every session and can feel my sharpness coming back, so I think my top form is only around the corner.”

Gerrard made a late substitute appearance in Tuesday’s 4-2 Carling Cup victory over Reading, creating the final goal of Fernando Torres’s hat-trick.

Torres was joined up front by Peter Crouch, the sixth different strike partnership Liverpool manager Benitez has employed this season.

It was only Crouch’s third

start of the campaign, but the striker is confident he will feature more prominently throughout the year.

“At the start of the season maybe I wasn’t getting enough starts as I would like,” he said. “But the manager has shown he chops and changes his squad around, and I don’t think anyone is safe from that.

“The biggest proof of that is Fernando Torres not starting the last two Premier League games.

“I went to see the manager at the start of the season and he reassured me that I would be involved in a big chunk of the season. When you’re challenging in four competitions, I honestly believe I’ll get enough games.

“I want to play, all footballers are the same, we are selfish and want to play.”

With Michael Owen joining Emile Heskey on the sidelines for England’s Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia next month, Crouch is also poised for a recall at international level.

And the Liverpool man is confident England coach Steve McClaren has the striking options available to cover Owen’s latest injury.

“I believe that we have the players to come in and will do a job,” said Crouch. “When I was suspended for the first qualifier, Emile Heskey came in and did a fantastic job. He wasn’t even in the squad before that and that shows the strength in depth we’ve got.

“Before that myself and Michael Owen both played and scored in a3-0 in Estonia so obviously that partnership worked. If Michael is out then we have Andrew Johnson, Wayne Rooney is fit now, and Jermain Defoe. We are rich in the striking department. I firmly believe that we can cope with any injuries we have got.

“I certainly believe we have got players to come in and can certainly do more than a job.”

Crouch could partner the returning Rooney, and added: “If I’m playing with Wayne Rooney, I know he likes to drop deep and receive the ball deep and create things and maybe I’ll play a bit higher that I would with Michael.”

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/...4375-19853322/

So just chill mate

[Pacman]

I think Coops should go out and buy a copy to see if its true.

[kev776]

I going to phone the post and give them **** if they have allowed this.

[breffniboy]

I've had a gander at the Irish version of the paper and in my one it's little more than a sidebar pushed out to the side of the page.

There is no "Gerrard told the S*n" or anything to indicate that he spoke directly to the paper, nor is there a banner headline with a pic of Stevie that would make anyone think it's a column by the man himself.

[Slim]

I've had a gander at the Irish version of the paper and in my one it's little more than a sidebar pushed out to the side of the page.

There is no "Gerrard told the S*n" or anything to indicate that he spoke directly to the paper, nor is there a banner headline with a pic of Stevie that would make anyone think it's a column by the man himself.

A Manc supporter in our office has a copy of the offending rag and he says it's a mere couple of paragraphs in the Irish edition tucked away where you'd barely see them.

For what it's worth, large chunks of the article Dee have posted are also copied in today's Guardian.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_...177736,00.html

There is no way this is some sort of Scum exclusive.

[keniget]

More hysterical raging, huh?

[kev776]

I have spoken now to the Post's press office and managed to cajole the desk number of Ian Doyle who was at the post- Reading press conference, when he actually gets back to his desk I will ask him if he wrote the article and the Scum nicked it or if it was a general comment by Gerrard for all the hacks present and therefore public domain.

(I wish Id done this before I started the thread and made myself look like a complete chud)

[Pacman]

I have spoken now to the Post's press office and managed to cajole the desk number of Ian Doyle who was at the post- Reading press conference, when he actually gets back to his desk I will ask him if he wrote the article and the Scum nicked it or if it was a general comment by Gerrard for all the hacks present and therefore public domain.

(I wish Id done this before I started the thread and made myself look like a complete chud)

It's alright fella I think most people think that already anyway

[Revo]

afternoon everyone

[Pacman]

afternoon everyone

Afternoon Revo