Today's Banter: Bellamy quit Liverpool?, Wigan limping, Babbel eyes return, & more

- This is interesting, according to Wigan midfielder Jason Koumas, Craig Bellamy quit us because of Rafa's rotation. Quit us? Who is Bellamy kidding? He barely had one foot in the door before most fans wanted him gone. The bottom line is, he just wasn't good enough for us. Too many offsides and not enough creativity. Room for Torres and Voronin were needed and Craig B had to go. In the link above, Koumas then goes on to say, like Bellamy did when he joined us, that he was a childhood Liverpool fan and wants the Reds to go on and win the title this season. Then he questions Rafa's rotation policy after saying it's hard to argue with Benitez' record due to our boss' ways. In the end, he just sounds confused.

- Wigan might have an even tougher time than usual against us as they will be missing five players due to injury. Kevin Kilbane, Ryan Taylor, Antonio Valenica, Denny Landzaat, and former Red Emile Heskey are all very doubtful for tomorrow's clash. It really doesn't matter if they have all their best players or not, if we play well, we should win.

- Per usual, the opposition manager has to chime in on his thoughts about Rafa's rotation policy and Wigan boss Chris Hutchings is no different. He claims that most players at Liverpool have grown to accept Rafa's tinkering ways and since a majority are also foreign, they are used to dealing with it. Hutchings also goes on to add that it doesn't really matter who Benitez puts out there, they are all top players and the Lactics will just have to deal with it.

- Former Liverpool defender Markus Babbel would like to return to the club he won the treble with in 2001 in the capacity of manager one day. The 35-year-old is currently an assistant with the club he ended his career with, VfB Stuttgart. The former European Championship winner with his native Germany was also part of the Bundesliga winning side last year, his final season of playing.

- Finally, Rick Parry feels the time is right for us to win the title. Though the 52-year-old Chief Executive of the club refuses to make a prediction on the grounds of frivolity, he thinks this year is different than past years as there is also expectation but not true belief.

Today's Banter: Ref change for Wigan, Crouch wants answers, & Gerrard 'almost fit'

- Due to protest from Wigan manager Chris Hutchings, the referee for our match on Saturday has been switched from Steve Bennett to Mark Clattenburg. Hutchings' ground for protest was Bennett's sending off of Kilbane for apparently no reason whatsoever in the Lactics tie at Newcastle on the first of this month. Though he has yet to receive any punishment for what has been deemed an 'incorrect decision', it was thought best that Bennett not be in charge of this upcoming fixture. Fine by me, the guy has handed out four red cards in six Premiership matches so far this season which would have probably meant a sending off for Mascherano at the JJB. Clattenburg has yet to hand out a red so far this year. Knock on wood.

- Peter Crouch would like to know FIFA's response to Graham Poll's accusations that the refs during last year's World Cup were asked to single the forward out. It's pretty obvious that he was. While he had the stage, Crouch also warned Torres that performance is not the main factor in Rafa's selection process and therefore he may not even be on the bench at Wigan. Crouchy may either be trying to force Rafa to start him Saturday or he may just be laying the foundation for a request for a transfer come January. If Torres is selected, look for the lanky striker's whining to increase.

- Gerrard has proclaimed that his best form is just around the corner as pain in his toe has subsided. I really don't understand why he was playing with pain for England or our club otherwise. In fact, it's pretty obvious he should have left the limping Three Lions to the wolves since he got no credit for his solid performances against Israel and Russia. Then again, we're talking about the English press who are more superficial than Victoria Beckham.

- By the way, if you didn't know, Danny Guthrie scored a goal for Bolton yesterday. It was the first strike for the 20-year-old midfielder with the club in which he is on loan and proved crucial as the Wanderers beat Fulham, 2-1, in League Cup action. As soon as I can find a video of it, I'll either link or show. Cheers.