Your Name High - Hillsong

Verse 1
Your innocence forsaken
Upon that cross
You gave Yourself for us
Carried into Your freedom

Our broken past replaced in
A second chance
The chains have come undone
Death defied in the Father’s love

CHORUS
We are,
Living to make Your Name high
Jesus
Living to make Your Name high
Jesus You,
Gave what the world couldn’t offer us
Say what they want, Say what they want
We are free

VERSE 2
The atmosphere is changing,
Oh can You hear
The people rising up
In the hope of Your freedom

Our former ways are breaking
We seek Your face,
God let Your kingdom come
In our praises be lifted up


BRIDGE
With eyes on high we praise You
And with one voice we come together
Our one desire to praise You
And lift You up in our surrender

With eyes on high we praise You
And with one voice we come together
Our one desire to praise You
And lift You up ‘cause we are

What now?

Liverpool FC is in one of it's deepest cricise one has ever since. Nothing has gone right for them this season. And just yesterday, they exited the FA Cup by losing 2-1 to Championship side Reading.

It's not that Liverpool underestimated them; their team was full of senior players except Cavalieri and Degen; but they were strecthed to extra time, after conceding a last minute penalty, and conceding a "with the stuff" goal from Shane Long. To add insult to injury, and really, injury, Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun will be out with their respective injuries.

I'm not going to blame whatever is happening off the pitch, or blame decisions made earlier in the season that causes Liverpool to be in their current state. However, what I'd like to focus on is what they can do next.

They have now only two objectives left: get fourth place in the league, and try to win the Europa League if they can. However, there is perhaps something else that they can do.

There was a poll, asking the fans what they think Liverpool FC should do now. Top of the list was the head of Benitez, second on the list was the head of the owners, and the third one is the Europa Leauge Cup. However, I'm interested in the last one: BUILDING UP YOUNGSTERS.

I believe Liverpool can use this kind of situation to try out the youngsters. Although it's true that Liverpool are pushing for fourth, but to be honest, Liverpool doesn't have much to lose now ('cause they already lose too much. Blek =p ). With injuries to the 3 star players, and many complaining that the likes of Kuyt, Lucas, Degen, Babel, N'gog, Sktrel, Krygiakos and Insua are "just merely squad players", perhaps it's time to bring up the younglings.

Best example to follow: Arsenal.

There's no other club that's willing to let 16-17 year olds play against the Premiership teams than this team, and it's through this regime, and we've seen the likes of Fabregas, Glichy, Diaby, Denilson, Ramsey, Vela, and recently, Fran Merida grow into superstars, and although Fabregas is the only proven one so far, the rest are AT LEAST more than just squad players.

So yeah, in other words, I'm saying that the likes of David N'gog, Jay Spearing, Stephen Darby, Damien Plessis, Daniel Pacheco, Martin Kelly, Nathan Eccleston, Nabil El Zhar, and Daniel Ayala should be given more chances to play. I should note that ALL OF THEM had already made their Liverpool debuts, and of all these youngsters, N'gog is the only one that has played more minutes than them (due to Torres being injured). However, in order for them to grow, they have to play more often, and I do see this mess at Liverpool as the best opportunity. And for all we know, we can see future superstars.

Of course, one may say, "It's suicide, as we need the strongest team to go out there and win." Good grief. If you're complaining about those players being merely "squad players", and not wanting to see them on the pitch, yet having so many players on the treatment table (once again), wouldn't it be best to send these youn guys out to not only gain some experience, but to also help out? I'm sure Kenny Daglish is bringing them up well.

And also, Alberto Aquilani is improving, and perhaps soon we'll see the best of him. That's what every fan is waiting for. And ohh yeah, they're excited by Pacheco too. ^^v

I have only four words for Liverpool FC:

~YOU NEVER WALK ALONE~

~eNd~

Staying Strong Through Hard Times...

Can't believe it's happening, but you've got to take it as it is. People are burning churches and attacking it, and really, you'll never know if it's going to be the turn of your church.

It's happening everywhere now, spreading from KL to the likes of spoiled attempts in Taiping, and even in Malacca. Sarawak too.

It's just sad that it's even happening in the first place. It all started with an apparently sensitive issue about a clearance to use a certain word, and after that decision, all hell broke lose. Goodness know if they'll stop unless the court decides to reverse it's decision.

I do pray for all the churches that were burned down, that they will not bear hatred towards to people who caused all these. I pray for the protection of other churches, which are yet to be victimised. I pray for the people, that they will not run scared, but stand strong in the Lord.

However, ultimately, I pray for those who are involved in the attacks and are planning to - that they will not. That they will stop. That they will be sensible and rational. That they will realise that it's a decision being made, and unless and ONLY unless if the court decides to go back on the decision, there's nothing they can do to change the situation.

That they will realise what country they are in. That they will know that it's multicultural, a country with different races and different religions. That they will not bring down their own religion and race, or in other words, bring a bad image and name to themselves and to the country. That they will realise the consequences of such actions.

That they can know that there is a better way to solve this problem than just attacking the churches. That they can discontinue to distort the peace and harmony our Prime Minister wants to create (1Malaysia).

I saw this sign in a newspaper picture, held by "them". It said: "Do not do unto others what you don't want others to do to you."

Look who's talking.

~eNd~

Nice Reminder

I was paying for motorbike's road tax in an insurance company, when I saw this little card on the registeration table. I wanted to take that card, but he said it comes with the whole set (huh??). Not knowing what he meant, I memorised the whole sentence of this card:

Help me to remember Lord, that nothing can happen today without You and I ACHIEVING IT TOGETHER.

Man, we all certainly need it =)

~eNd~

The Blame Game

The big word at Liverpool F.C so far this season has been ‘blame’. Every fan, pundit and journalist has their own opinion on who is to blame for Liverpool turning from title contenders to battling for a place in Europe’s elite competition. I’ve gave my own views a number of times on this site, some of you have agreed and some have called it rubbish, showing the true split created in Liverpool’s support toward the end of this year. In this piece I’m going to try and take no sides and only look at what’s gone wrong at our club.

Rafa Benitez

Firstly let’s look towards the manager, Rafael Benitez. Throughout the season the pundits have been attacking the Liverpool manager based upon his decisions and man-management skills. Over recent weeks as form seemingly hasn’t picked up more and more fans have also decided to point the finger firmly in the direction of the Spaniard, who recently gave reassurances the Reds would finish within the top four positions in the league. One of the major talking points with regards to Benitez is the sale of Alonso in the summer. Whilst Alonso was determined to head for the Bernabeu in the summer many fans think the transfer could have been avoided long before the window even opened. Rafa originally tried to off-load the former Sociedad midfielder during the previous summer, with visions of bringing in on-form Gareth Barry from Aston Villa. I agreed with the move at the time, Alonso had two very poor season leading up to that summer, and Gareth Barry looked like an improvement. Of course Alonso went on to have his best season at the club before making the move to the Spanish capital, however, it’s worth noting that this was one of only two good seasons Alonso had at Anfield, with the rest being average at best. In conclusion Rafa could have handled the whole thing better, trying to flog Alonso to Juventus behind his back wasn’t a clever move, but it would have paid off had he been given adequate funds to sign Gareth Barry.

The managers tactics have also been brought into question, especially with regards to where and when he plays players. Some have said Kuyt isn’t a winger, he hasn’t got the pace and lacks a first touch. Those points I agree with, I also agree that he’s been off-form all season. However, last season showed he can play brilliantly on the wide right. Seemingly Dirk only plays well when the rest of the team are, which at the moment they are not. If we pick up a handful of wins in a row I’d more than expect to see Dirk playing better, but his ability on the right shouldn’t be question, it’s his best position. Whether he plays it well enough to feature week-in-week-out is a different question. Aurelio’s position has also been question, Rafa has played the Brazilian on the left-wing a number of times this season and he’s been accused of being too defensive. For me Aurelio is a more natural left winger than he is a left back, the problem is he’s injury prone and to be honest not all that good. Playing Lucas is the major concern to many fans and whilst he’s put in a few bad performances this season he’s put in a lot more good ones, in fact he’s improved considerably this season. Should Rafa be playing both Mascherano and Lucas? Maybe not, but now Aquilani is fit he may not have to.

Rafa’s ability in the transfer market has also been brought into question. Many have said he’s had too much to spend and has showed he can’t buy well below 20 million. I have to disagree, signings like Benayoun, Reina and Alonso have shown his ability to make things happen on low budgets and the signing of Fernando Torres for 20 million shows he’s more than capable of spending big money well. He has signed a number of high-price players who haven’t paid off. Most notably Robbie Keane and Ryan Babel. Whilst Keane seemingly was a mistake Babel was a risk that any manger would take, he was a young, promising player who had the potential to develop into a world-beater. Unfortunately the gamble didn’t pay off, but for me it was a risk worth taking. Dossena was a poor signing, as poor as they come for that price but whilst trying to be as unbias as possible I honestly feel Rafa has done well in the tranfer market, spending a net of only 83 million in his time at Liverpool and working on a shoestring under our current owners.

Finally for Rafa I’ll bring up his man-management skills. This is probably the biggest single question asked of the manager in recent weeks. Has he lost the players? Can he inspire them anymore? The only people who truly know the answer is the players themselves but looking at the way they are playing currently I’ll say they may have lost confidence in him. While the players have to take on some of the blame themselves the manager is there, in part, to motivate the team and it seriously looks like that isn’t happening at the moment. However, he’s proven he can do it in the past, half-time in Istanbul being a prime example. Maybe it is just down to the players, losing their heads after a bad run off games. However I am going to pin this one on the manager himself. If the players are down and out it’s the managers job to screw their heads back on and remind them what it means to put on a red shirt, there should be no ego’s and everyone should be considered equal out there on the pitch and Rafa needs to start drilling this home to get everyone working together.

The Owners

I think everyone who supports Liverpool F.C has some feeling of resentment towards our American owners, it’s just a case of how much blame each fan puts on them. Since day one Hicks and Gillett have piled debt onto the club, which now stands at well over GBP300 million. The major argument is that ever since the owners have come into place Rafa has been forced to sell to buy, forcing him to let go of decent back-up players in order to improve his starting eleven. There’s clear evidence to back this up, the sale of Bellamy in order to fund the Torres deal is a prime example. Selling to buy does work in the short-term but over a prolonged period (Over three years in our case) it simply isn’t sustainable. The gap between the quality of our first team and our squad players is huge and that will only continue to grow if the sell-to-buy policy is continued.

Let’s also not forget Rafa had other targets in mind in the summer, with some of the names being thrown about including the two David’s of Valencia Silva and Villa. Rafa was told that he’d have more money than he did to spend, allowing him to consider some more attacking options to take the pressure off Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard. However this money was snatched away from him by the owners, leaving a big gap in our squad, which has cost us dearly this season. The knock on effect of a number of failed signings, including Gareth Barry and Danny Alves, due to a lack of funds will have also had an impact on the squad this season. Imagine what could have been if Rafa had been given any considerably funds in the last three years? A number of his major targets, including those already mentioned, have gone on to be some of the best in the world. For these reasons a large amount of blame must be placed on the owners. while our youth system is still developing we have to spend an adequate amount to keep the squad up to the standard needed. At the moment our league position is representative of where we are in terms of amount spent compared to other Premier League clubs, mid table. Can we really expect to win the league without the invest other clubs around us are getting?

However, constant blaming of the owners whenever we lose isn’t right either. A number of recent games have been down to poor decisions and a lack of motivation (as I’ve mentioned) coupled with a lack of effort on the players part, which I’ll move on to soon. Although the owners need to be accountable for the overall demise of the club as a whole each individual game has to be looked at on its own. Some games can be put down to the manager and players decisions off and on the pitch, as opposed to a lack of investment in the squad. As much as it hurts me to say it due to my hatred for the owners if a player or the manager makes a mistake which costs us the game you cannot lump it all on the owners and stick your head in the sand. Sad but true.

The Players

The players have to hold their hands up and admit they’ve been less than brilliant this season, although it seems like most of them wont. A number of our top performers this season have been off the pace, most notably captain Steven Gerrard, who has seen a drastic loss of form and seemingly a loss of his work ethic as his effort at times has been minimal. Far too many times this season the captain has put his head down and went quiet when we’re in trouble, it’s all well and good chipping in a goal every now and again but Stevie has to act like a captain when he’s not on form himself. If he’s not doing well with the ball at his feet at least he could try to inspire the others around him to do better. Jamie Carragher hasn’t been on form either at times, but he’s always seen rallying the troops even when he’s having an bad game. Gerrard could do with taking a page out of his book.

I’ve mentioned motivation is a part of the managers job, but the players have to motivate themselves as well. Liverpool supporters pay a fortune to the club to follow the Reds around the country week in, week out and the least the players could do is realise it’s those fans hard-earned cash that is paying their wages. It’s all well nd good saying the manager isn’t motivating you but when you’re earning more in a week than most will in a decade you can’t justify not putting in the effort for a game or two a week, it’s simply not on.

Summary

Here’s the order in which I’m allocating the blame:

1st: The Owners

In this league in the modern game you have to have the funding in order to be successful, that or have a fully developed youth team like Arsenal, something we cannot boast as of yet. Money is the vital ingredient and without it no manager will ever be successful at Liverpool Football Club. No matter who came in they wouldn’t get a scrap to spend at the club and would continue to fall behind the rest of the high-spending pack. That’s why I’m putting the owners at the top of the blame chart. They’ve weakened our squad by forcing us to sell to buy and have riddled the club with debt which has seriously effected our spending in the build up to this season.Tom Hicks and George Gillett either need to dig deep in the next few transfer windows or get out fast.

2nd: Rafa Benitez

Whilst the Spaniard has been given near-impossible working conditions by the owners over the last three years his decisions this season have cost us in a number of games. Some silly substitutions and weird changes to the formation have made us look disjointed all over the park with the players seemingly not knowing exactly what they should be doing. Rafa has to get on the players backs and show them what it means to play for Liverpool F.C, otherwise we’ll never get back on track. Despite his flaws I do believe Rafa is the man for the job. If he was sacked now we couldn’t attract another world-class manager, not with the restraints the owners place on the manager. No manager would succeed at our club while having to sell-to-buy.

3rd: The Players

I was reluctant to put the least blame on the players, as despite his faults I believe Rafa is trying harder. However, the players need to sort themselves out and fast. We’ve shown our mental strength as a team many a time, coming back from huge defecits and it’s time to show that passion again. While motivation may be the key they need to keep their heads up and keep trying because that’s the Liverpool Way.

I hope you enjoyed reading through my ramblings and I hope you thought it was a little less bias than a lot of my other stuff. Feel free to give your opinion in the comments section.

By Michael Owen (Not of Manchester United)

My 2 cents: Well written, and I have to say, by not taking sides, and including everyone in the blame is good, but he missed out the fans. Looking at the comments made everywhere, I felt hurt. Yeah I may not be the manager and all, but if I was in their shoe, and I read all this, really, I'll be hurt. So yeah, fans must do their part. If the manager can't lift the players, or the players can lift themselves, why not the fans? They can play their part too. So yeah, there you have it =)

~eNd~

If you don't know, JUST ASK.

There's one very important thing I was taught while I was a kid: If you don't know anything, just ask.

Seriously, it makes real sense if you actually put your pride behind.

There are a lot of things people know and don't know in this world and I have to say: EVERYONE DOESN'T KNOW SOMETHING. Don't ask what, because there are thousands of things that each individual does not know.

The best part is, sometimes you don't know the things you are SUPPOSE to know. Fancy that.

Let's take this case scenario:
Say you're staying in Ipoh, and you're looking for Pasir Putih. Pasir Putih is a bit far off from Ipoh, but as a citizen of Perak, you are SUPPOSE to know where Pasir Putih is. However, due to the fact that you don't travel there often, or no one has taken you there, hence you don't know where.

However, you don't dare to ask. Having that mindset that you should know the place, and yet you don't know, it instills fear in you to go and ask for direction, because of fears of people questioning you about not knowing where PP is. They'll say, "How can you NOT KNOW where PP is? Are you from Ipoh?"

These kind of statements can really make you feel like you're the asshole alien in a stranger's land that you've been living for the past "goodness-know-how-many" years of your life, and yet not knowing your territory well. And it is THESE kind of statements that makes you not want to ask anymore. Psychological factor? Hmm...

There are a lot more case scenarios, but I wouldn't go through them here. All I'm going to say is:

1. If you seriously don't know, NEVER BE AFRAID TO ASK. I mean, it can't be helped that you don't know, and you can't act as if you know, lest you get yourself in trouble. Are you going to wait till then to regret to regret not asking earlier?

2. If you seriously don't know, NEVER BE AFRAID TO ASK. Doesn't matter what kind of question: math problems, accounts jumbled up, lost in direction, transportation. Ps though: please make sure that your question is SENSIBLE. Otherwise, if people really make an asshole out of you, it's because you asked for it.

3. If you seriously don't know, NEVER BE AFRAID TO ASK. Remember, the main purpose of you asking is so that you can know. Sometimes even when you ask, you might not get a complete or clear answer. Ask till you are clear of what you need to know, 'cause let me tell you. Sometimes, it's a LIFE SAVER.

4. If you seriously don't know, NEVER BE AFRAID TO ASK. Some people might think that you're a persistent fly that keeps buzzing at their ears with questions of things you don't know, and sometimes people can get irritated. To avoid this, maybe you can try asking different people. Again, take back the Ps in point 2.

5. If you seriously don't know, NEVER BE AFRAID TO ASK. In related to the point above, watch WHEN and WHERE you ask. Sometimes you might be asking a question at a wrong time at the wrong place, which is why people sometimes can't answer you, or don't want to answer. Don't blame them for thinking you're a fly then.

6. If you seriously don't know, NEVER BE AFRAID TO ASK. However, watch what you ask. Sometimes people just want to know something either out of curiosity, or they just to poke their nose into other people's business, when it's actually none of theirs. So, do mind what you ask, 'cause I dare say that sometimes, there are things that it's better YOU DON'T KNOW.

7. If you seriously don't know, NEVER BE AFRAID TO ASK. There IS such a factor called pride, and sometimes this can cause us not to ask, because we are prideful. We want to give people the image that we ain't that dumb after all, and we don't like people treating us like low class citizens who knows nothing. Put that aside, and you'll find that whenever you want or need to know something, you'll just do it automatically.

So yeah, there you have it. So again, hence the title, if you don't know, JUST ASK. Ain't nothing to worry about.

~eNd~

Blessed New Year 2010!!!!!

WISHING EVERYONE A BLESSED NEW YEAR 2010!!! MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS YOU AS HE HAS BLESSED YOU IN 2009!!!

Ps: Sorry to post so late. Lazy. Blek =p

~eNd~