Ex-Liverpool defender Daniel Agger retires at 31

Former Liverpool centre-back Daniel Agger takes to Twitter to confirm he is calling time on his playing career.

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Sad news from Daniel Agger as the ex-Reds defender today announced his retirement from football at just 31 years of age.

Agger’s career has been plagued with injury setbacks and although the Dane admitted it was “sad” to accept his playing days were over he said he was “proud” of the career he had.

Daniel used Twitter to confirm the news: “Thank you for your support,” he tweeted. “A great experience,” he added, in a tweet that also included a photo of a selection of his shirts, including a Liverpool one.

“It’s sad, but it is the right decision to stop. I’m proud of my career,” he wrote.

 

The centre-back was signed for Liverpool by Rafa Benitez in 2006 from boyhood club Brondby and left Anfield eight years later having established himself as a favourite for many fans, especially when he responded to transfer rumours linking him with a move away from Anfield one summer by getting “YNWA” tattooed on his knuckles.

Those injuries restricted his appearances in a Liverpool shirt but he still managed to turn out 232 times in his eight years and won a League Cup Winners’ medal in 2012 under Kenny Dalglish.

Perhaps one of the lowest points of his time at Anfield was when current England manager Roy Hodgson was boss for an ill-fated six-months. Responding to stories in the Danish media Hodgson said of Agger:

“I don’t give them mass media training. I would give mass media training to young players, but people like Agger who is knocking on 30 years of age… I wouldn’t want to pull him aside and say, ‘be careful what you say,’ because he understands those things.” Agger was actually 25 at the time.

“You’re going to get caught out,” Roy added, “But to be quoted, as he was on Sky, he doesn’t like our long ball approach, I think that’s not only tough on the boy that he’s been caught out but to be made to look a complete fool, because I think probably the one thing, at the moment, nobody in this room for one minute suggest, was that Liverpool are a long ball team.

“In fact there might be people who would suggest we should play a bit longer because we win the passing statistics every match but even our goalkeeper rarely kicks the ball beyond the halfway line so I think they’ve made him look a bit of a fool with that.”

In the same interview Hodgson also explained why Agger wasn’t playing – it was because Roy’s new signing had taken his place. “To play regularly you’ve got to be fit [which Agger was at the time]. I think most of last year he wasn’t fit.”

That was before Hodgson arrived, so why wasn’t he playing under the former Fulham boss? “He was fit at the start of this year but he had to play at left back until we signed Konchesky. Now of course Carragher and Skrtel have been playing in the centre of defence and doing well and he’s got to get into the team in the place of one of those.”

Agger’s appearances were few and far between and a few months later Hodgson was sacked, much to the delight of the vast majority of Liverpool supporters, and Agger was quoted later on how things were under Roy.

“Look at the team – we played awful, we were s**t,”  he said.

“When you look now every single player is better. Confidence can win you games and Kenny [Dalglish] and Steve [Clarke, his assistant] have put the confidence back in the players and we have shown that definitely in the last four games.”

Better still, the football was now of a style Agger – and most fans – would prefer to see from the Reds: “Kenny likes to play positive football, going forward, and keeping the ball on the ground and he is good among the players. The training sessions have been really good and everything starts at the training ground. If you get that right you have a big advantage in the games.”

Of course those good times under Kenny didn’t last as FSG sacked him just after that League Cup winning season. In his place came Brendan Rodgers and soon, as it had been under Roy, Agger found himself making limited appearances. In 2014 he moved back to Brondby, a year after rejecting reported advances from Barcelona to stay at Anfield.

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He told Danish TV what had led to him making that big decision to leave Anfield, pointing to his relationship with Rodgers. “There was much [distance] between us, and for me it was just enough,” he said.

“I felt that he didn’t appreciate the things I could do or contributed. When I feel that, then it’s time to move on.

“When you are a part of the starting eleven for several games in a row and the team have performed well, and you feel that you have played well, then you are left out of the team and don’t feel appreciated, it starts to get pray on your mind and you wonder.
“Then, at the same time, you see the statistics from your game – which are so important all around the world of football – and you don’t understand why you weren’t used more often.”

The defender did have some praise for Rodgers, but suggested he felt let down by a lack of openness from his former manager: “He’s an extremely, extremely competent coach. The things that went wrong between us is that I say things the way they are and I expect others to treat me the same way. Maybe it is wrong to always expect this.”

Agger, who also won 71 caps for Denmark, was recently linked with a reunion with the man who brought him to Anfield, Benitez, who is now Newcastle boss, but today’s news confirms that won’t be happening.

The willingness Agger showed to put his body on the line for Liverpool – despite all those injuries – showed an attitude that many Reds players have lacked in recent times. An excellent defender, his abilities going forward and his desire to turn defence into attack are qualities Jurgen Klopp needs to look for as he rebuilds his Liverpool side.

At £6m Agger, despite the injuries, turned out to be something of a bargain.

He’ll be missed from the game but left us with plenty happy memories. Good luck in whatever comes next for you Daniel.

How Jurgen Klopp can take Liverpool forward next season

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As the curtains came down in Switzerland and as the Liverpool manager embarked on the journey home with his team one thing was confirmed.  His team has many lapses and may not really move on in the manner expected without proper changes.

Change is vital in nearly every sector. Even gambling sites, some of which are listed in this portal, have had to make small changes including allowing players to play bingo games for free. This small change helped them become the best bingo sites for gamers looking for risk free bingo gaming experience.

Going back to the Liverpool case, some players have underperformed all season and Klopp needs to cut them off from the team if he is to take Liverpool forward in the coming season.

Defensive changes

Alberto Moreno’s lapses in concentration can no longer be condoned. At least one top level left back needs to be integrated into the squad.

Martin Skrtel for his part has the looks you would want from a starting centre back but he hasn’t been fit for much of this season. When he played, he was part of some of the most surprising Liverpool defeats. It is time to move on for him.

Kolo Toure was great on the night in Switzerland but at 35 years of age, the club needs to be moving away from him. Nothing epitomises the failings in Liverpool’s defence more than the fact that Kolo Toure is still in consideration for a new contract.

Simon Mignolet has divided the Kop for a while and he recently signed a new 5-year deal.  Whilst it is still difficult to say if he is good enough or not, one thing we definitely know is that he needs some serious competition. The signing of Loris Karius from Mainz may be all that is required to solidify the goalkeeping department.

Midfield changes

Emre Can and James Milner are great workhorses but they come up short in games at critical moments.  In Switzerland for instance, they needed to control pace and stifle Sevilla’s momentum after the equaliser. They failed to do so of course.  A further confirmation of the failure to control games is the fact that Liverpool threw away leads (in some cases two goal leads) up to four times since the turn of 2016.

Tactical changes

Klopp isn’t blameless even though he has brought lots of positives since arrival at Anfield.  His in-game management hasn’t been at the best level most of the time.  Most of the talk would be about him focusing on why he has lost 5 finals in a row but his in-game management deserves more self-reflection.  Against Sevilla, bringing in Lucas may have helped stifle Sevilla. Jordan Henderson is no Steven Gerrard but bringing him on earlier may have helped calm the team in the midst of the Sevilla onslaught.

Klopp’s first season wasn’t a disaster given that two final appearances seemed farfetched with Brendan Rodgers in charge last October. However, these changes must be initiated to ensure it won’t be sideways movement for Liverpool come next season.

 

John Barnes is Deezer’s most-streamed footballer

When footballers try their hand at music…

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On the eve of Euro 2016 someone at music streaming service Deezer has a good look at their streaming data to find out if any footballers have managed to do well in the music industry – and found enough of them to pick a full team, with one still a current player.

Sadly it’s not the best selection of songs, on the whole, with former Liverpool, Hamburg and Newcastle forward Kevin Keegan giving everyone the opportunity to tell him they’d “love it” if he stayed well away from any recording studios. His effort, ‘Head Over Heels in Love’ is at No.4 in Deezer’s chart. Somehow.

Top of the chart is another ex-Red and this time it’s probably the best of the lot by some distance. No, not his efforts on Craig Johnston’s ‘Anfield Rap’ with the rest of the LFC squad from 1988 but his well-loved rap along with New Order on ‘World in Motion’, England’s World Cup song for Italia ’90. The difference ‘Digger’ made was enough for it to be New Order’s only UK No.1 and it’s now Deezer’s most streamed song by a footballer.

Although John has now retired from playing he is still rapping and can often be heard doing so on tour with 5Times, the Liverpool Former Players Association, although more often than not it tends to be ‘Rapper’s Delight’ by the Sugar Hill Gang and it’s well worth a listen if you ever get chance to go to one of his shows.

Real Madrid’s Jesé Rodríguez is the current player who’s had a dabble in the music industry and the Deezer list also includes actor Vinnie Jones, who used to dabble in the football industry.

Explaining their chart, Deezer say: “By examining the long-standing relationship between football and music – from renowned chants to rousing championship raps – the line-up is composed of European players past and present who have tackled the music industry, and have been ranked according to the frequency of their music streams on the platform over the last 12 months.”

Of Barnes and New Order’s efforts Deezer say: “It comes as no surprise that England midfielder John Barnes takes the coveted title of the most streamed footballer in the ‘Deezer 11’ with his 90s smash hit and team up with New Order, World In Motion – perhaps the only thing England will win this year.

“Receiving almost five times as many streams as his closest rival Jesé Rodríguez, World in Motion is almost as synonymous with John Barnes as his powerful left foot.”

The Rodríguez number is Spanish hit, ‘Yo Sabía’, which pips the effort by the sadly recently departed Dutch soccer maestro Johan Cruyff. His hit was ‘Oei, Oei, Oei (Dat Was Me Weer Een Loei)’, one we’re sure everyone reading this is familiar with.

The ‘Starting 11’, ranked in order of streams, is:

John Barnes – World In Motion
Jesé Rodriguez (Jey M) – Yo Sabía
Johan Cruyff – Oei, Oei, Oei (Dat Was Me Weer Een Loei)
Kevin Keegan – Head Over Heels in Love
Vinnie Jones – Big Bad Leroy Brown
Andy Cole – Outstanding
Slaven Bilic – Vatreno ludilo
Franz Beckenbauer – Gute Freunde Kann Niemand Trennen
Ruud Gullit – Not The Dancing Kid
Peter Schmeichel – We Can Do It**
Youri Djorkaeff – Vivre Dans ta Lumière**

*For this activity Deezer analysed songs from 30th May 2015 to 30th May 2016

**Note: Peter Schmeichel’s and Youri Djorkaeff’s hits are not listed on Deezer

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Christian Harris, Deezer UK & Ireland Managing Director says: “While the odds on England winning Euro 2016 may be slim, we know with certainty that England would definitely take home the trophy for the most iconic football song. Who doesn’t remember John Barnes’ World In Motion summing up the 1990 World Cup?”

Deezer don’t just stream music they also stream sport and this summer that includes Euro 2016 coverage. Harris said: “With more live football on Deezer than ever before including all of Euro 2016, we wanted to celebrate some of our favourite football songs from across Europe through the ages with our ‘Deezer 11’.”

Quite why they ignored ‘Liverpool (We’re Never Gonna Stop)’ by the Liverpool FC 1983 Squad is something we’ve not asked them, but it’s track nine on this album of, er, masterpieces.

At least they didn’t mention ‘Diamond Lights’ by Hoddle and Waddle.

Why Liverpool should move for Jordan Amavi

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Amavi could be the answer to Klopp’s problematic left back position, writes Sam May.

Given Aston Villa’s poor performance last season, a move for Amavi would raise eyebrows. However, having suffered a knee injury during the campaign, he can’t be blamed for their relegation.

Tenacious in the tackle, a set-piece specialist and fine dribbling skills, he is just what Liverpool need at the back and is also dynamic, quick and aggressive. The 22-year old Frenchman would definitely be a bargain at £10 million.

The Villains have made it clear, they would be prepared to part company with one of their consistent performers, and Amavi would be a more defensive option should the Reds make a move.

Liverpool need to buy a left back that can actually defend and should the medical team give the green light, Klopp is ready to take a gamble, despite his injury concerns.

He could be the replacement for the underperforming Alberto Moreno who has endured a tough time on Merseyside since his Premier League arrival.

The Reds do face competition for his signature with Lyon and AC Milan, who have reportedly been in discussions with his agent regarding a move.

 

Follow Sam on Twitter: @Sam95May

New feature length documentary tells LFC’s 1986 double winning story

Documentary tells the story of an amazing season for Liverpool as Kenny Dalglish stepped up from player to player-manager – 30 years on.

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30 years after Liverpool’s historic League and FA Cup double in Kenny Dalglish’s first season as player manager, a new feature-length documentary has been produced and will air exclusively on the club’s LFCTV GO service.

With a running time close to 90 minutes, the programme features in-depth interviews with the men who played such an important role in that special season, including Kenny of course, his captain Alan Hansen and many more including Jan Molby, Jim Beglin, Ronnie Whelan and Craig Johnston.

The season began after the darkness of what happened in Heysel on May 29th 1985, 39 supporters dying after crowd violence before Liverpool’s European Cup final with Juventus. Liverpool, along with all other English clubs, were now banned from Europe.

Joe Fagan, who had taken the reigns from Bob Paisley, himself taking over from Bill Shankly, had retired and for once Liverpool had broken with tradition by not handing the job onto another member of the famous ‘Boot Room’. Sort of.

As Kenny explains in the documentary, he had the continued support of the Boot Room with the likes of Tom Saunders, Ronnie Moran and Roy Evans a part of his backroom staff, just as they had been for his predecessors. He also had one of those illustrious predecessors on hand as an advisor – a certain Mr Paisley.

“I had fantastic knowledge, help, support,” Kenny says.

“Tom Saunders was there, Ronnie and Roy stayed, old Bob came in to help me.

“If you’re given a managerial job and you’ve got arguably the most successful manager in football history beside you, who’s totally humble, supportive, appreciative and a fantastic help, then you’ve given yourself a bit of a chance.”

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The documentary is narrated by ITV Sport’s Clive Tyldesley, at the time a familiar voice to any Liverpool fan who had to get their LFC fix through the radio, in his case the local commercial station Radio City. For many a young Reds fan he was the voice that described the scenes over what sounded like a telephone line from distant places across Europe as the Reds marched through the continent picking up their first four European Cups. As this documentary explains, those days were now gone and would be for quite some time to come.

Entitled ‘Double Winners ’86 – On The March With Kenny’s Army’, the show is to be released exclusively to LFCTV GO subscribers today, Tuesday 31st May, reliving what still remains one of Liverpool FC’s greatest ever achievements.

The dramatic story of the Reds “forgotten season” is told with the help of extensive archive footage, some of which has rarely been seen due to the 1985 television dispute that kept all Football League and FA Cup matches from television screens until the start of January 1986.

“It was a fairy-tale season for us,” said Dalglish. “It’s unbelievable to consider the amount of success that the football club had enjoyed but they had never won the double.

“It was a fantastic achievement. It doesn’t get any better.”

The documentary will be available to view for current LFCTV GO subscribers from 31st May 2016 at 2pm BST.

Fans can access exclusive official LFC content on LFCTV GO, whether that’s the latest interview from a first team player, the manager or behind-the-scenes access to the Club’s backroom activities, plus full match replays and exclusive live coverage of U21, U18 and Ladies matches through. For details and to subscribe to LFCTV GO, visit: www.liverpoolfc.com/watch.

Liverpool to play four friendlies across the north of England

Liverpool confirmed earlier this week that they will be playing in a big friendly game against Barcelona in August at Wembley and today added four more dates to the pre-season calendar for games that are certainly not going to be quite as high profile.

 

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With construction work continuing on the rebuilt Main Stand there is no chance of the club playing any home friendlies this summer.

The four UK matches are to be held across the north of England, starting very locally across the water at Tranmere Rovers on 8th July. Five days later they head north to the seaside town of Fleetwood before a game around twenty miles from Anfield against former Premier League side Wigan Athletic who have just secured promotion to the Championship after a season in League One.

The final game announced today takes place in Yorkshire, the Reds playing Huddersfield Town on July 20th.

The full fixture list is:

 

  • Tranmere Rovers v LFC, Friday 8 July, Kick-off 7pm BST
  • Fleetwood Town v LFC, Wednesday 13 July, Kick-off 7pm BST
  • Wigan Athletic v LFC, Sunday 17 July, Kick-off 4pm BST
  • Huddersfield Town v LFC, Wednesday 20 July, Kick-off 7.45pm BST

The club will then continue their pre-season preparations Stateside with two International Champions Cup games on the West Coast of the US against Chelsea (July 28th) and AC Milan (July 31st), before rounding it all off with that game against Barcelona in London on August 6th.

The new Premier League season begins a week later.

The club say that tickets for the pre-season friendlies in the UK will soon be on sale and asks fans to keep checking www.liverpoolfc.com/tickets/tickets-availability for latest news.

 

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What can Loris Karius bring to Liverpool?

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Having sealed the signing of goalkeeper Loris Karius for £4.7 million, Sam May takes a look at what the young goalkeeper can bring to Merseyside.

The Reds had been linked with a number of other German goalkeepers in recent times including Timo Horn of Cologne, Marc-André ter Stegen of Barcelona, Berd Leno of Bayer Leverkusen and ex-Manchester United keeper Ron Robert Zieler of Hannover.

Having spent 18 years at Mainz as a player and manager, Jürgen Klopp has strong connections with the Bundesliga outfit and has acted fast to secure the services of one of the best goalkeepers around.

It seems competition in the goalkeeping department is only going to get stronger with Karius being brought in to rival current Reds No.1 Simon Mignolet. With Adam Bogdan set to leave and Danny Ward expected to head out on-loan, 22-year old Karius is a no brainer.

Why Karius?

The German shot stopper has previous experience in England having joined Manchester City in 2009, aged 16. But would later make a permanent move to Mainz in 2012.

Athletic and likes to command his area, he went on to make 96 appearances for Mainz, maturing in the process, developing into one of the finest goalkeeping talents in Europe. Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Merseyside rivals Everton were all interested, but Liverpool have acted fast, and decisively for once, which maybe shows how Klopp is going to operate.

The fact is, he could have re-joined former boss Thomas Tuchel at Borussia Dortmund, the manager who game him the break to showcase his talent at the Coface Arena. However, the opportunity of a move to Merseyside to work under Klopp was too good to turn down.

At 6”2’, he commands his box. He has good vocally helping defenders, a great presence, sharp reflexes, and likes to organize the defensive line. He has completed 99 catches, to Mignolet’s 74 this season, highlighting he is more than capable to command a place and rival the 26-year old Belgium shot stopper.

His calm and composed, but also dominant approach, is something that is suited to Klopp’s style of play. Having averaged 2.1 saves per goal, to Mignolet’s 1.27, the facts seem to say that he is the perfect option.

He has a similar style to that of David De Gea at Manchester United and is expected to rise to the top of the Premier League.

Mignolet has improved. He still however seems to be unconvincing amongst Reds supporters. His poor distribution is a weakness and something Klopp isn’t impressed with at times.

It seems Karius will settle into to life on Merseyside quickly, and if given a chance, and performs well then who knows, he could be the Reds keeper for the next 10 years, and join the likes of Clemence, Groballar, Dudek and Reina as a real red No.1.

Follow Sam on Twitter: @Sam95May

What do Liverpool need for the coming season?

Now Jurgen Klopp has had over half a season of Premier League experience, it is now time for him to bring in his own players and take Liverpool to the next level. I will be analysing what positions Klopp will need to invest in and possible candidates.

Signings so far

Loris Karius is the latest Klopp signing, a young promising goalkeeper from ex club Mainz. Karius is a great signing with the inconsistent performances from current number one, Simon Mignolet. A very good shot stopper and confident in possession of the ball whilst delivering good distribution much like ex Liverpool player Pepe Reina. It is not yet clear whether Karius is the new number one goalkeeper but he will definitely be good competition for Mignolet for the coming season. 

New LFC goalkeeper signing Karius

Is Karius the new number one at Liverpool?

Joel Matip was signed in February on a free transfer from FC Schalke 04 and could be the dominant centre back Liverpool are crying for. Over recent seasons, poor defending has been the Reds downfall and Klopp has immediately tried to rectify that. Joel Matip stands at 6 ft 4 inches and is known for his power and heading ability, which can certainly help Liverpool with their inability to defend corners/crosses. On a free, this is a brilliant signing as he is still young but has good experience, collecting nearly 200 appearances for Schalke and 27 for his national team Cameroon. Matip will go straight into the first team and Klopp will hope for him to build a formidablle partnership with the rejuvenated Dejan Lovren.

Marko Grujic is relatively unknown to fans of the Premier League and Liverpool but looks a very promising player. The Serbian made it into the SuperLiga team of the season accumulating six goals and seven assists along the way. A big powerful midfielder, Grujic has been likened to fellow Serbian Nemanja Matic and for sum of £5.1 million, Liverpool may have just found a top European midfielder.

Positions Liverpool need to strengthen this summer

Left Back has been a constant problem for Liverpool since club legend John Arne Riise left the club. The likes of Paul Konchesky, Jose Enrique and Fabio Aurellio have tried to fill the void but have not been up to Liverpool’s expectations. The current left back is Alberto Moreno, whilst Moreno provides a great attacking threat, his ability to defend is often questioned and his abysmal Europa League final performance has many fans wanting Klopp to sign a new left back. Moreno did not convert to a left back until he was 21 and this shows in his current game, a backup left back or playing him higher up the pitch will be more suitable for this coming season.

Potential signings – Jonas Hector, Caner Erkin, Ben Chilwell.

Midfield is a tricky one as Liverpool do possess very good midfielders in, Emre Can, Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Philippe Coutinho. Despite the quality in midfield, it feels like Liverpool are desperate for a proven top class player to add another option for Klopp. There has been much speculation about the potential signing of Mario Gotze, this would be the marquee signing Liverpool fans are begging for. Unfortunately for Liverpool fans, it seems like the deal is not on the cards. Speaking to German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, Gotze’s father Jurgen Gotze stated he has heard nothing about a possible deal to the Reds; “I don’t know anything about an alleged imminent transfer to Liverpool,” he said. “Mario is my son, we talk to each other. I would know about it.” This is a huge setback for everyone involved with Liverpool but this transfer can be resurrected.

Gotze waving goodbye to Bayern fans?

Gotze waving goodbye to Bayern fans?

Potential signings – Mario Gotze is a main target for Klopp and they should do everything they can to secure his services.

Now Liverpool have a world class manager in Jurgen Klopp, fans will need to be patient and give Klopp time to bring in the players he believes can take Liverpool to the next level and bring the Premier League back to Anfield for the first time in over 20 years.

Follow Jake on Twitter.

Competition: Win a personalised Ireland shirt in time for Euro 2016

To celebrate Ireland’s involvement in this summer’s European Championships we are giving away a personalised replica Ireland shirt in a free-to-enter competition.

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The domestic season is now over and done with but fans don’t have to wait long for the return of competitive football with Euro 2016 right around the corner. One of the nations involved this summer is Ireland and memories of slightly older supporters are flooding back from the 1988 tournament when the Irish lads upset another of this summer’s qualifiers, England.

Read on for details of how to enter our competition.

Wales and Northern Ireland are also involved this summer and whether there will be any upsets this time remains to be seen, but if you think there might be one or two red faces you can always Bet on the Euros with Paddy Power, whether it’s for individual games or the tournament as a whole.

The 1988 tournament was held in what was still then West Germany with just eight teams qualifying compared to the 24 sides who are involved in the Euro 2016 finals.

The opening game in Group 2 saw Ireland take on England in a match in which both sides had Liverpool players on the pitch, five Liverpool players starting the match in all.

On the England side Reds legends John Barnes and Peter Beardsley started, with future Liverpool defender Mark Wright, then with Derby, also involved. LFC midfielder Steve McMahon was an unused England sub.

Ireland named three Liverpool players in their Euros squad and all three started the group’s curtain raiser against the English, played at the VfB Arena in Stuttgart. John Aldridge, usually seen in Liverpool colours wearing the No.8 shirt – as worn by his boyhood hero Roger Hunt – was handed the No.9 shirt for Ireland, with Reds teammate Ray Houghton wearing the 8.

Also involved for the Boys in Green was Liverpool and Ireland legend Ronnie Whelan, the midfielder wearing the No.6 shirt for the tournament.

The half a dozen Liverpool players involved in the game on and off the pitch would still have fresh memories of the upset at Wembley in the FA Cup final just a few weeks before when Wimbledon broke Reds hearts with their unlikely victory over hot favourites and league champions Liverpool.

Could Ireland pull off what would be seen, at least in England, as a similar upset?

They did.

It took just six minutes for Jack Charlton’s Ireland to take the lead and, try as England might, they were unable to break the Republic down, thanks in large part to goalkeeper Packie Bonner.

The game ended 1-0 and Ireland were in heaven.

The rest of the tournament didn’t go quite so well for Ireland and their adventure was over soon after, but that victory over England remains one of those games that fans will talk about for a long time afterwards. Also at least Ireland, unlike England, went home with some points on the board. Ireland finished third in the group with three points (it was still two points for a win in those days), Bobby Robson’s side losing all three of their games.

To enter our competition just answer the following question. Leave your answer in the comments before the closing date and we’ll pick a winner at random shortly afterwards.

Q. WHO SCORED IRELAND’S GOAL AGAINST ENGLAND IN THE 1988 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS?

As a bonus – just for fun – who got the assist?

Leave your answer in the reply/comments box below.

Please make sure you enter your email address correctly in the space provided – we won’t share this with anyone without your permission, but we will need this to contact you in the event you win the prize! Closing date: 11:59pm (UK & Ireland Time) Monday 30th May 2016. The decision of Anfield Road is final.

Gary McAllister to Celtic Park?

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McAllister could be set for Celtic coaching role, writes Sam May.

Former Liverpool great and first-team coach, Gary McAllister could be heading back to his homeland this summer, to link back up with new Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers.

It is understood the 51-year old Scot, could become the Northern Irishman’s No.2, as the former Kop boss, looks to re-shape his coaching staff ahead of the new campaign. A move would see him leave his ambassadorial role at Anfield.

Having been brought to Liverpool by the former Reds manager Rodgers in 2015, McAllister’s duties were to remind the Reds’ hierarchy of the importance of experience.

McAllister, who signed for the club aged 35, went on to make 87 appearances for Liverpool and helped his side to win the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup.

Rodgers, 43, could also look to bring in former assistant managers Colin Pascoe and Sean O’Driscoll who both worked with him on Merseyside, whilst Neil Lennon and Malky Mackay have also been noted.

Follow Sam on Twitter: @Sam95May

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