Friends of Liverpool FC

Latest rumours in the press are that that the Liverpool owners want to replace struggling Benitez with Aston Villa's Martin O'Neill, it is believed Hicks & Gillette are impressed buy the way the Irishman has built a strong squad on limited funds from Randy Learner and is riding high in the Premier League.

It is believed that Kenny Dalglish will take temporary charge until the end of the season and O'Neill will be the next Liverpool manager in the summer.

I don't give this story much credence as I believe the board will give Benitez until the summer to judge him.

Another report says that "Barcelona will sign Mascherano in January for £20 million and Liverpool will use the funds to buy a striker to play alongside Fernando Torres".

This is a possibility as the Argentine wanted to join the Catalans in the summer, my gut instinct is that Javier will stay on until the Summer at least.

Tom Hicks has issued a statement this evening saying that "No players will be sold regardless of results. We have significant investor interest and we want to pick high quality partners to invest in the club" however he did add pointedly that he hoped "things would be better on the pitch!"

Watch out Rafa, the knives may be out.

Other reports suggest that Liverpool may raise as much as £250 million in naming rights for the proposed new stadium in advance of the building of the Stanley Park ground.

Nice work if you can get it Christian Purslow.

Finally, Daniel Agger, just back from a spine injury has quipped that "Injuries can't be used as an excuse, we have a big enough squad."

Big squad alright Dan but just a bit short on quality this year.