Kids watch: Anderson returns, Leto back for mini-derby, Threlfall returns to Anfield, & more

Paul Anderson is expected to be back on the pitch for Swansea today when the Swans take on Northampton in a League One fixture. The 19-year-old winger suffered a slight knock on the knee against Hartlepool last Tuesday and missed his club's FA Cup draw at Horsham last Friday. The Swans still sit atop the League One table though by game-in-hand, Nottingham Forest could overtake them with just a draw and Carlisle United both could surpass them with a win. The Cobblers currently sit in 17th place, 12 points off the pace.

Every other fit, on-loan kid currently playing in the Football League could see action today as well. Godwin Antwi and Hartlepool host Tranmere, Lee Peltier and Yeovil welcome Bournemouth, Adam Hamill and George Burnley's side take on Sheffield Wednesday at St. Mary's, Besian Idrizaj probably won't get on the pitch for Crystal Palace as the Eagles travel to Loftus Road to take on QPR, Craig Lindfield and Notts County will look to put their FA Cup woes behind them when Peterborough United come to town, and finally, Ryan Flynn may or may not get his debut with Hereford, as the Bulls play Wycombe at Adams Park. Speaking of Hereford, Robbie Threlfall has returned to Anfield to undergo treatment for his ankle injury and is expected to be out until the new year.

Finally, the Reserves take on Everton at Halliwell Jones tonight. Sebastian Leto, who I guess was out with a knock, will return. The starting line-up is expected to be:
Dean Bouzanis
Emiliano Insua
Mikel San Jose
Ronald Huth
Martin Kelly
Sebastian Leto
Damien Plessis
Jay Spearing
Nabil El Zhar
Jordy Brouwer
Krisztian Nemeth

Subs:
Peter Gulacsi
Stephen Darby
Daniel Pachecho
Ray Putterill
Francisco Duran

Interesting to see Martin Kelly starting over Stephen Darby. I haven't seen Kelly play much, but Darby is a more than adequate Reserve right back. Hungarian wonderkid Krisztian Nemeth gets another start, that's good, but any speculation that he'll break into the first team any time soon is simply laughable. Physically, he's got to get stronger and not lose pace in the process, and also when a player is that young (he's 18), if they're either good enough for the first team right away (like a Michael Owen), then they rarely play for the reserves except for a running out. Cheers.

Kids watch: Not a good weekend to be on-loan from LFC

Robbie Threlfall got injured, Ryan Flynn absent, Godwin Antwi played, but his side lost, Craig Lindfield forgotten as Notts County suffered an FA Cup embarassment, and Adam Hammill barely got on the pitch as his side won.

In a face-off of two clubs with Liverpool kids on-loan, Hereford United beat Hartlepool United, 2-0, in second round FA Cup proper. Unfortunately though, none of our youngsters walked away from the pitch smiling. For the Bulls, Robbie Threlfall started, but had to be taken off due to injury just 26 minutes into the match, and Ryan Flynn, who had just joined the club in the past week was overlooked for the squad. On the other side of the pitch, Godwin Antwi played the full ninety, but obviously, his side lost. No news on the extent of Threlfall's injury as of yet, but I'll be sure to keep blog readers informed.

Craig Lindfield may have lucked out by not being used at all in League Two side Notts County's 0-1 humbling loss to Conference South club Havant & Waterlooville. I've been unable to find any explanation as to why the 19-year-old Wirral product was omitted from the squad entirely, he was on the bench in their last match and there's been no evidence of injury. The loss is a financial disaster for the club as they miss out on the next round of FA Cup action, which could have meant a Premiership opponent and extra cash to spend in the January transfer window.

Although it appeared Adam Hammill was finally breaking into regular first team ball at Southampton after starting his club's last match, such thoughts now seem a bit premature. When the Saints took on Leicester at Walkers Stadium on Saturday, Hammill found himself on the bench and only got on for a run-out in the 85th minute. What probably makes things worse is that Southampton won and as long as they continue to do so, barring injury of course, Hammill can't expect to be more than just a sub.

Finally, Swansea take on Northampton at the Liberty tomorrow in League One action. As of now, it looks like there's a good chance Paul Anderson will play, how much though is still uncertain. I'll be back tomorrow with another kids watch update. Cheers.

Kids watch: Anderson unfit, Antwi vs Threlfall & Flynn, U18s take on Man U, & more

Paul Anderson didn't travel with the Swans this evening as the club headed to Atspeed Stadium to take on Horsham in second round FA Cup action. His injury is now being described as 'dead leg', which for some reason conjures images of Peter Jackson's Braindead. I'll let you work that one out. Anyhow, Swansea's next match is a League One tie Tuesday at home against Northampton, hopefully Anderson will make his return then and there'll be no zombie babies in the crowd. Had to, sorry.

In another FA Cup match, Godwin Antwi's Hartlepool travel to Edgar Street on Saturday to take on Hereford where Robbie Threlfall and Ryan Flynn are currently breaking in their boots. Both Antwi and Threlfall are expected to start for their respective clubs, while there's a good possibility Ryan Flynn could make his debut for the Bulls.

In the Daily Echo today, there's an article about our own Adam Hammill amd his recent trials and tribulations at Southampton. While the author of the piece seems to think that Hammill played a great match at Ipswich last Tuesday, the comments appear to tell a different story. I guess slagging off a 19-year-old who has hardly had a chance to play is the status quo when it comes to the class of the average Southampton supporter. The Saints travel to Leicester on Saturday where Hammill is expected to start.

Other on-loan kids who could see action includes Craig Lindfield, who's Notts County have a second round FA Cup tie at home against Conference South side, Havant & Waterlooville. In all likely-hood, Lindfield will get the starting nod, but as for Besian Idrizaj at Crystal Palace, who knows? The Eagles are home against West Bromwich, but whether or not our on-loan Austrian will even make Neil Warnock's bench is yet to be seen. In Spain, Xerez is at Deportivo Alaves on Sunday, but these days, Besian appears to have a better chance of playing than Miki Roque.

Finally, the Academy kids take on Man U in a rematch of last year's FA Youth Cup final, though only our Swedish behemoth, Astrit Ajdarevic, Steven Irwin, and Sean Highdale remain from the winning side. The Saturday morning match is apparently being held at Old Trafford. The kids are hoping to make manager Hughie McAuley forget their last outing, a 0-3 loss to Man City. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Pepe seeks to stop Healy, Torres title talk, Rafa outclasses Big Sam, & a tad more

As I alluded to in yesterday's daily, Pepe Reina might be setting himself up for a fall today when he starts in net for his native Spain. The match is meaningless for the Spaniards who have already booked their ticket to the 2008 Euro, but their opponent, Northern Ireland, need to win if they want any chance of advancing. Pepe may be looking to shut down David Healy, the hat-trick hero when Norn Iron beat La Furia Roja 3-2 in Belfast in September of last year, but it doesn't mean his teammates will have the same kind of commitment. I'm still hoping Aragonés plays younger players or ones that will at least care, I don't want Reina to get embarrassed.

Fernando Torres has made some interesting points lately. Most notably how our side has yet to play our best yet are only six points off the pace of league leaders Arsenal. He also claims that there is a 'winning mentality' ever present in the LFC locker room before matches. The problem with our side is that we may have a winning attitude at the offset, but as matches wear on and goals aren't produced, we begin to doubt ourselves instead of believing that as long as their is time on the clock, we'll still get it done. Finally, Torres gets a little cocky and says “From what I have seen so far in England we do not have anything to fear from any of our opponents for the title." That may be true, but there's no need to give our opponents more motivation to beat us.

In anticipation of our clash at St. James Park on Saturday, Tommy Smith at the Echo has taken a few stabs at 'Big' Sam Allardyce. It's not as if the Newcastle boss doesn't deserve it, he feels as if he has the right to criticize Rafa Benitez despite lacking the silverware to do so. As Smith mentions, the only accomplishment of Allardyce worth any sort of recognition was keeping Bolton up for six seasons and reaching the UEFA Cup once. 'Big' Sam would get a lot more respect from others if he learned to keep his mouth shut. In fact, I'd go even as far as to say he'd make a better manager for England than Steve McClaren.

Two of our players saw action yesterday. On-loan Robbie Threlfall helped Hereford United upset Leeds 1-0 in first round FA Cup action. The left back, who turns 20 on Sunday, started and played the entire match. Meanwhile, Javier Mascherano and Argentina suffered their first loss of World Cup qualifying to Colombia in Bogota. Carlos Tevez conveniently received a red card in the 25th minute and despite going up 1-0 on a brilliant strike from Lionel Messi, the Albicelestes failed to hold on, eventually succumbing 2-1. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Kuyt burgled, Deco talks dirt?, Gerrard pep talks England, & more

Dirk Kuyt became the fifth Liverpool player in eighteen months to have his home burgled last Thursday while he was away on international duty. Just another reason to quit the national team if you ask me. Anyhow, this of course shows that Merseyside is riddled with crime and a far worse place to live than say Manchester or London, right? Wrong. If anything it shows that at least the criminals are smart enough to know who to target. Just for kicks, check out the 193-page report on crime in the UK and Wales from the Home Office. If you don't want to bother, ponder this: per 10,000 households in Merseyside approximately 0.0352% were burgled between August 2006 and July 2007. Greater Manchester? 0.0518%. London? 0.0422%. In fact, those two areas are worse percentage-wise in every category of crime, but facts don't matter, right? Moving on...

Oh my God, Barça's Deco forgot to mention us as contenders for the Champions League, so he must not think that we have much of a chance. I am so riled up at the moment, I mean, just because we have a slim chance of advancing to the knockout stage, doesn't mean we can't win at all! That Brazilian, uh, I mean Portuguese ponce! This is called 'mocking a shit rag site who has nothing better to do than make things up.' Deco doesn't mention us, big deal.

Gerrard must want some expensive gifts for Christmas. I mean, who are the two England players whose asses you'd kiss to get, say, most likely a Ferrari from as a present for Christmas? It's not Joleon Lescott or Nicky Shorey, I assure you that. Our captain was just full of praise for John Terry and David Beckham in this article.
Stevie-G wants the side to win it for the Chelsea defender and thinks that Beckham is still 'international class.' Those comments are worth at least a bottle or five of Krug Clos du Mesnil.

Robbie Threlfall dreams of playing for Liverpool one day. The soon-to-be 19-year-old local product may be far down the left-back totem pole, but he knows if he works hard and continues to develop, he's got a shot at making the first team. He's currently on-loan at Hereford United where he has started four matches. They play again today in FA Cup action at Leeds. I honestly think the kid's got what it takes to be a first-team contributor in two-to-three years after being impressed by him in the preseason against South China FC.

Finally, I feel sorry for Pepe Reina. It looks as if our keeper will be in net for Spain when they face Northern Ireland in Euro qualifying tomorrow. The game is meaningless to the Spaniards so I hope Luis Aragonés plays youngsters who care and are looking to impress their coach for future call-ups. If not, it could be a long day for Pepe as Norn Iron has to win to have any chance of advancing. Of course, with the Green & White Army relying on Latvia to upset Sweden, they might as well not even try either. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Latest on Riise wageslip leak, Sick Sissoko may miss Blackburn, Xabi back in a fortnight?, & more

Though the Merseyside police have stated that they will look no further into how John Arne Riise's wageslip was leaked to the internet due to lack of complaint, Liverpool FC have decided to take matters into their own hands by launching an independent investigation. The first anecdote to emerge involving the controversy is that a group of Everton fans co-conspired to rummage Riise's vehicle after spotting the 27-year-old Norwegian in a pub. While other Toffees fans kept watch on Riise, another co-conspirator allegedly searched out his SUV where the wageslip was apparently within plain view of a camera phone. The problem with that theory is: a)there was a hand clearly in one of the leaked pics, b)how did they know which vehicle was Riise's?, and c)the plot sounds a little too fantastic and definitely too intelligent for a group of Everton fans to pull off.

Rafa has revealed that the only reason Steven Gerrard played yesterday was because Momo Sissoko is still sick. Had the 22-year-old Malian been available, Stevie-G would have more than likely had the night off. Momo has been diagnosed with a virus of some sort and had trouble keeping food down earlier this week. His condition will be evaluated ahead of the Blackburn match on Saturday, but prospects of him playing are not looking good. Thankfully Mascherano's injury wasn't as severe as first thought as the Argentine played in the closing minutes of yesterday's match.

Speaking of injuries, our current crisis appears to be becoming less grim. Turns out Xabi Alonso's foot injury is not as disastrous as originally anticipated. The 25-year-old Spanish International was expected to be out up to two months, now it's looking more like two weeks. That means with a little luck, we could have a full and fit squad in a fortnight with Agger and Torres expected back by then as well.

Jack Hobbs and Nabil El Zhar have garnered loads of praise for their efforts versus Cardiff City yesterday. The 19-year-old Hobbs received acclaim from teammate and fellow centre back, Sami Hyypia. The legendary Finn went as far to say that he believed Hobbs was better than him at that age. Wow. Meanwhile, El Zhar, who scored an absolute cracker of a goal to give us an early lead has been getting his fair share of attention. In a post-game interview, he stated that he would play defender for us if it meant more playing time. Now that's the kind of attitude we need.

Finally, Hereford United has received permission from Reds management to FA cup-tie Robbie Threlfall. It looks as if the young left-back will be getting some pitch time for the Whites. Cheers.

Threlfall loaned to Hereford United

Robbie Threlfall (pictured, center above) has been sent out on one month loan to League Two side, Hereford United. The 18-year-old left back was on both FA Youth Cup winning sides in 2006 and 2007. He scored the goal in the second leg of 2007 final with Manchester United to send the match to penalties, where Liverpool prevailed 4-2. He was named Man of the Match for his efforts that night at Old Trafford.

The U19 England International also saw action with the first team in preseason matches against Wrexham and South China FC. I got to watch the latter match and was quite impressed with the youngster's pace, composure, and toughness. Hopefully the local lad will continue to progress and one day follow in the footsteps of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher and fulfill his dream of becoming a first team regular.