POP GOES THE MATCH AS I REMEMBER IT...

POPCORN. It was the popcorn that got me.
The staple diet of cinema-goers worldwide - and there it was, branded with the Liverpool FC name and badge, on sale at Anfield.
Perhaps even more worrying was the sight of fans, with tubs of the stuff, heading up the steps of the Kop.
I don't get it. Really don't get it. How is going the match to get behind the team you so passionately support remotely like kicking back at the flicks and watching Indiana Jones?
I just can't imagine nudging the missus as Steven Gerrard skins a defender,throwing back a few pieces of popcorn and saying: "Ooh, that was a good bit wasn't it?!"
But joking aside, this was a real big kick up the arse that said the game has changed beyond all recognition since I first glimpsed the hallowed Anfield turf as a teenager.
I see the popcorn era as a signal of two things.
One, that the club's owners are totally committed to squeezing every last penny out of fans (which we knew of course) and two, that the dynamic of the club's supporters has changed beyond all recognition.
I shudder to think what the reaction would have been had you forced your way into the middle of the standing Kop clutching a tub of popcorn. In those days you were more likely to see fans coming into the Kop with a bag of chips and the Echo (which was later funnelled for the infamous mid-game slash!).
Then the crowd was made up of fans of all ages and was undoubtedly more Scouse.
Now, a lot of those fans have been priced out the game. And at nearly 40 quid a pop for a ticket these days, it's no surprise.
The result is a division within the crowd. And it's not just at Liverpool, (true) Manchester United fans will tell you the same thing.
I've seen more arguments at the match in the last couple of years than I have in a decade.
And most have been caused by the 'daytrippers' or from a reaction to this kind of fan. These are the 'experience' fan. People who fill up on products (and popcorn) at the club shop, record You'll Never Walk Alone and take a load of pictures before heading home to boast to their mates.
Half of them don't even seem to care about the team - I've witnessed many slagging the players, the city and Scousers off while still in the confines of Anfield.
So it's no wonder there's tension.
It's like the people in power at the club have totally lost sight of what it's all about - and this is not all down to the Yanks.
Liverpool Football Club should be a football club for Liverpool. But the reserves games aren't even played in the city.
And while the official line is it's to protect the pitch, you can't help but think there's a marketing suit rubbing his hands together at the thought of drumming up more support in areas outside of Liverpool.
So what's the answer? Well for me, it's simple. Stop taking the piss. Don't make us pay for the 'chance' of a ticket. Give people local to the club the chance of seeing the reserves. Stop putting up ticket prices.
And, please, leave the popcorn at the Odeon...

SOBERED BY THE CARLING

TO be honest, it's not going out the Cup itself. Of course, it would have been nice - another trip to Wembley, another honour on the list.

But, despite what anyone argues - it's the poor relation, the one you least want to win. It's the pair of Gola to the pair of Adidas that is winning the league.

But for me, the worrying thing, the sobering thought, is the quality of our squad. Earlier this week I wrote an article for http://www.lfcworld.co.uk/ underlining the quality of Alavaro Arbeloa and Fabio Aurelio.

Well after our second dose of White Hart Pain this month, I'm down on my knees praying that these two can stay injury-free. Because on the evidence of tonight, our defence will be as safe as a Gillett and Hicks promise if Philipp Degen or Andrea Dossena get anywhere near it.

Degen takes the phrase 'attacking full-back' to the extreme. OK, he deserved a penalty. But, at times, he was ahead of the strikers - and that left the Reds exposed at the back with the spotlight cruelly falling on big Sami Hyypia.

The man's a legend, no doubt. But he needs a bit of help these days. And what he doesn't need is to be dragged out to cover the flanks because his fellow defenders want to see their name in lights.

As for Dossena, he's gone from jury's out, to jury's decided - not good enough. He was a shambles at Spurs. Ignore the usual time to settle in, new to the Premier League cliches. He was off the pace and out of position.

Rafa Benitez has shown in the past he is not scared to hold his hands up and admit he's made a mistake with a signing. I suspect when it comes to Dossena, he will be holding his hands up very soon.

Which brings me on to another transfer mistake - Lucas Leiva. Against Atletico Madrid at Anfield, a boy on the Kop stretched on to his tip toes and screamed at the midfielder 'You don't deserve to be Brazilian'.

Now that might be a bit harsh, but I know what he means. What does Lucas bring to the team? He doesn't seem to excel at anything, be it shooting, passing or tackling.

For him, the Spurs game tonight should have been an opportunity to shine, a chance to grab the game by the scruff of the neck, dictate the play and shout loud to Benitez that he wants to play regularly.

For me, he did nothing. And when Xabi Alonso came on as a substitute, the gulf in class between him and Lucas was wider than Jan Molby's arse.

The point is, and heaven forbid this, Liverpool could be relying on these players a few months down the line to keep us in the hunt for the Premier League.

We've probably all been guilty of getting drunk on dreams of winning a 19th league title - this performance by the squad's underbelly was like waking up to Bella Emberg slapping you in the chops with a wet week-old fish and ordering you to drink a vat of coffee.

WHITE HART PAIN

IT might be a small word, but it was looming large in my head after the defeat at Spurs: If.

It was all about ifs.

What if we hadn't hit the bar more times than Amy Winehouse? What if we hadn't seen something as rare as the full house signs at Goodison Park, a Jamie Carragher mistake?

Imagine if Fernando Torres had been fit. You can't help but think he would have buried one of the chances Liverpool carved out against a shaky Spurs defence.

And what if Rafa Benitez had managed to keep Peter Crouch on the books? He left Anfield for first-team football, and fair play to him. But if we could have kept him, he would have came in handy for a situation like Saturday night.

As it was, Robbie Keane again looked good as a second striker but didn't pose much of a goal threat. Dirk Kuyt, as ever, worked harder than anyone else on the pitch, delivered some quality crosses, scored a great goal - but, ultimately, missed a sitter.

So, now can we carry on pushing for the title?

Well, I reckon it could boil down to if we can get another striker on board in January. But that, of course, is all down to if George Gillett and Tom Hicks – who remain as welcome as a fart in a sleeping bag, despite what they seem to think – are prepared to cough up some cash.

Worryingly, and perhaps, tellingly, we are being linked with bargain buys.

Players like Emile Heskey, who could be snapped up for next to nothing because he's out of contract in the summer. It's the same scenario with Michael Owen.

But could either man shoulder some of the goal burden which is resting so heavily on the shoulders of Torres? Doubt it.

Heskey is another second striker, a 10-goal a season man.

And Owen? Well he seems to be injured more than Jonathan Woodgate – and that's some going.

Benitez, still to sign a new contract, likes Amr Zaki. But so does just about every other manager in the league - so he's not going to come cheap.

And if the Americans continue to keep the club wallet closed, and mess Rafa around over his future, how long before he starts to think seriously about the rumoured interest in him from Real Madrid, Valencia and Juventus?

If I was you Mr Gillett, or you, Mr Hicks, I'd start spending - credit crunch or no credit crunch.