I think what Donny would like to see (in fact I know it because he made the same argument when Kevin Keegan retired) is Gerrard giving something back to football by playing in the lower leagues or taking a management job at Prescott Cables. But, of course, like Beckham before him, he’s too much of a Billy Big Bollox to dirty his hands like that.

He was convinced of the wisdom of staying in Liverpol by a local gangster called Pancake, wasn’t he?

Anyway, I see this loyal club man has put the knife in to Rodgers today by suggesting he would have signed a new contract if it had been offered in the close season.

Don’t managers have the right to look over a player for a few games before deciding whether to re-sign them? And isn’t it up to them how many games they think a player over 30 can manage in a season?

Gerrard obviously feels he’s bigger than the club and has had his ego dented by Rodgers exercising this right to manage as he sees fit. And he’s shown how much he loves Liverpool by destabilising their manager rather than going quietly. What a strap-on.

I personally thought it pathetic that his “loyalty” to his local team was more a result of threats made by a local gangster if he left. He’s wanted to leave a few times, and you can see the exasperation on his face at having to slave away for another quarter of a million a week. Also, he should never have been allowed near the England team who would have been considerably better off not touching the overrated likes of Gerard and Lampard with a barge poke instead of misguidedly trying to accommodate both.

Titus Bramble didn’t cost us anywhere near as dearly as Gary Caldwell, who’s still bleeding the club dry as a “captain” who never plays and a “coach” whose calamitous decisions suggest he shouldn’t be let near a training ground.

Well said, GalacTIC. That’s the best post I’ve seen on here in weeks.

We might not have appreciated it at the time, but Bruce’s whole operation was more professional than any we’ve seen since. It came at a price, of course: massive salaries, fitness coaches, and hanging on longer to our best assets. It was a price which Whelan refused to pay, in his guise of never standing on a player/manager’s way when they want to move on.

Since then we’ ve seen Whelan get found out, trying to maintain Premier League survival while still turning over two or three key players a season. No one should feel surprised or betrayed by this: it’s his stated business model. Unfortunately, it’s narrow-sighted. Now we’ll have to pay just to get out of our predicament; while his cheap appointment of a pariah manager doesn’t look so canny any more, either.

Steve Bruce may have a wonky face and moan about referees all the time, but I think he’s an honest man and a realist. After today’s match against Arsenal, he admitted that he didn’t have as many strong players at his disposal and that it will take a few more seasons in the Premier League before he does. Whelan’s policy of selling on players has meant that we’ve started with new squads almost every season. Bruce would have told him: that’s not building for the future, it’s flying by the seat of your pants.

Finally, Whelan sacked Graham Barrow as Laticss manager in about 1994. So what on earth is he still doing advising the likes of Malky Mackay, who have actually won things at this level? We need a clearout of players and back room staff alike, and could seriously do with some new impetus in the boardroom to stop Whelan and his yes men running Latics like a non-league club.

To be honest, I was surprised that it happened then. It was when hools were at their peak, and lots of people predicted a right old tear-up.

But it was also a period when a lot of clubs were getting their lowest-ever attendances, so Wigan’s was far from the only mostly empty segment of terracing.

I do remember that Tranmere Rovers brought loads. That the Leeds fans supported us during our game against Sunderland to wind the Mags up, but that they also started singing “There’s only one Bobby Campbell” when he missed that penalty.

Personally, I would love to see the FA attempt it again.

And here Donny you’ll see that, as far back as 2008, councils were enforcing positive discrimination in favour of men to redress the imbalance in primary schools.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/oct/22/schools-youngpeople