4 Days That Shook Anfield!

No transfer day discussion would be complete without a mention for Old Wheeler Dealer Auld 'Arry (pictured above) and his laughable attempt to sign Charlie Adam at 10.59pm coupled with a derisory bid for Anfield favourite, Phil Neville.

Today feels like the end of one era at Liverpool, and the start of a new one. Selling a major player directly to a domestic rival has never happened before. Torres leaving is more of a slight on the shambolic tenure of Hicks and Gillett than Liverpool Football Club. Had the club not been driven to the wall, losing asset after asset along the way, there is no way Torres would be playing in a Chelsea shirt. Sadly they did, and sadly Torres chose to sell his soul to the first club to show a shred of interest. He is sure of receiving the Michael Owen treatment from now on, but to steal a phrase coined by Barcelona fans when Figo left them for Real Madrid, "we only hate you so much because we loved you so much".

The only way Torres could of left Liverpool with less dignity would of been by blowing out the Hillsborough Eternal Flame, wiping his backside on the shirt and setting The Kop on fire on his way out. Sad way for Torres to leave, but inevitable once he put a written transfer request in. We should of seen it coming, some probably did. His increased petulance and apparent lack of effort over the last year or so has been concerning but the majority of supporters forgave him for it, due to his supposed passion for the club (ha). We'll see how the ever 'loyal' Chelsea supporters react if Torres shows the same kind of attitude 'darnn sarff'. Thanks for the memories anyway Fernando but you pretty much stomped all over them on your way out the door.

FSG's response to the sale of Torres has been sensational. No doubt Andy Carroll is the most overpriced transfer in the history of football, but once we had to deal with "The Torres Tax", on top of the "English Tax", the club was going to have to pay silly money to buy him, or any striker. Carroll will be a good addition to the side, he's a leader and will throw himself about from the start, something Torres definitely hasn't done for a long time. Torres had to be replaced immediately as Suarez is not a number 9, and throwing him into the Premier League on his own upfront would of been stupid. Dalglish identified Carroll as the man he wanted for whatever reason and that's good enough for me.

A lot's been made of the price paid for Carroll but any fan heard moaning about it should be politely reminded that had Hicks and Gillett still been stinking the place out any money made from the Torres deal would of been going straight to whichever the latest bank to bail us out was. In some ways Torres leaving could be the final act of Hicks and Gillett's destruction job (will retract this when Reina signs for United in the summer) as most of the players of the Benitez Spanish era who were promised Champions League and Premier League challenges have gone and the squad now is mainly made up of the local stalwarts, hardworking foreigners with questionable talent or players signed when the club was already suffering the effects of two C U Next TuesdayS from the USofA. It's up to Kenny to create a side pulling in the same direction, something Benitez lost sight of during his civil war with Cecil "Carragher and Gerrard's Bitch/The Snake" Purslow and Grandad Owl Features Hodgson never even looked like doing despite having the freedom of Fleet Street and Sky Towers to do whatever he pleased.

Bring on Stoke on Wednesday then off to the capital of rat piss on Sunday for a reunion we shouldn't be dreading. Torres is the one with everything to prove, he probably will in time. I hope he plays and he hears what he's left behind from our end whilst his new fans sing about Hillsborough and hating West Ham. His move might look wise in the short term, but in the long term who gives a fuck about Chelsea FC, not even their supporters judging by the 2000 tickets they returned for their cup tie at Goodison on Saturday. But anyway he's gone and the revival hopefully starts here!

Final point, I've heard the chant "we hate Nottingham Forest" for years now, after sending Paul Konchesky there on loan today, it seems we genuinely do!

Adios Amigo?

So Fernando Torres joins the Hall of Footballing Shame and with it will forever be associated with the likes of Cashley Cole, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez. Men considered more for their bank balance than their undoubted talent. Torres' treachery is almost worse than his new found friends though, in their cases, most people knew deep down the sort of characters they were. They had history of selling out in search of more money and more success. Nobody could criticise Torres for him wanting to win club honours while in the peak of his career, but the timing of his decision is completely selfish and his choice of destination is hugely questionable and aimed to hurt the club which has helped elevate him from a "wonderkid" to one of the worlds greatest. But he seemed different from the likes of Cole and Rooney, and that is the most disappointing point. He's left the fans that used to sing his name with a crate of eggs smashed all over their faces.

There is no road back for Torres, Liverpool fans may not even forgive, let alone forget. It's clear there's been collusion with Chelsea over the transfer and the fact it seems he or his management have seeked out such an odious club with the morals of an alley cat it's for the best that Liverpool and Torres part company as soon as possible. If Torres had courted the attention of the Barcelona's or Man City's of the footballing world it would maybe be easier to understand his thinking, they are clubs who are only heading in one direction. The same cannot be said of Chelsea, with their ageing primadonna ego filled squad, their days at the top look numbered now Spurs and City have entered "THE BIG GRAND SLAM SUPER MONDAY MEGATRON SUNDAY SKY GENERATED SUPERLY MASSIVE FOUR".

For Liverpool now, they move on with (formalities pending) Suarez in tow. They've lost players before, they will again. The biggest shame being that a player of the class of Torres chose to leave the Michael Owen way and not the Xabi Alonso way. As all fans know, no name on the back of a shirt, is bigger than the badge on the front. Adios Fernando, Tara La!