The fall-out begins following Torres' plea to leave

As Chelsea prepare to test Liverpool's resolve with an improved offer in the next 24 hours for want away striker Fernando Torres, fans have been quick to voice their disappointment.

Former Liverpool defender and Sky Sports pundit, Phil Thompson, speaking on Gillette Soccer Saturday, was damning of Torres' conduct and sees it as a "complete lack of respect towards Kenny Dalglish". Few could vehemently deny this undermining of authority.

What has most disgusted Liverpool fans, aside from the transfer request itself, is the silence following Chelsea's reported interest earlier in the week. No statement of intent was forthcoming as doubts grew as to where the Spanish strikers' loyalties lay.

Posting on social network sites and websites, one Liverpool fan said "I'm gutted. He's had nothing but love from the fans and this is how he repays us". The feeling of resentment towards the Anfield striker was not in short supply. These were sentiments echoed from many fans of the Merseyside club.

Gestures such as Torres' only serves to alienate fans and the faith shown in their players with loyalty becoming an almost archaic attribute in the modern day footballer.

As unfair as this may be on some players who have remained committed to their respective clubs for a prolonged period, we have now seen Torres join Wayne Rooney, of Manchester United, and Carlos Tevez, of Manchester City, in asking for a move away from their current clubs.

Rooney cited a vision of decline at Old Trafford as his excuse for wanting out, whilst Tevez complained of being homesick.

Torres has yet to give a reason for wanting to leave but one can only assume that he has become disenchanted with life at Anfield. If this is the reason then the timing could not have been worse.

Liverpool fans may have forgiven Torres had he demanded a move when the club was in turmoil and under the ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett, but he didn't. Instead he chose a time in which the club has agreed a £22.8m fee with Ajax for Luis Suarez, a signal of real intent from the club, and a time in which the club appears to be getting on the right track to salvage their season.

The usual conspiracy theory following a transfer request is that of the player hankering for more money. If this is to be the case then, yet again, it seems poor timing on Torres' part as his performances have been a shadow of his previous two seasons.

One thing is for certain though, Liverpool fans are not best pleased with their number nine. They feel betrayed, disrespected and let down. Not so long ago Torres had said that he would not play for another Premier League team as ' it was the least he owed to the fans'. In this instance they are joined by United fans and, to a lesser extent, City fans in this feeling.

Nothing, it seemed, could end the love affair between Liverpool fans and Fernando Torres but the romance is in severe danger of ending.

Should Torres still be a Liverpool player on Tuesday morning and Dalglish doesn't deem recent events to be a distraction then he should prepare himself for an extremely frosty reception at Anfield on Wednesday evening.

Liverpool reject Torres' last ditch transfer request

In an earlier article praise was lavished on Blackpool's Ian Holloway and Charlie Adam for the manner in which they have handled themselves during this January transfer window.

This praise, however, cannot be bestowed upon Fernando Torres, the Liverpool striker, following his plea to leave the club within this January transfer window.

The written transfer request, which was swiflty rejected by the Merseyside club, has only served to confirm the supporters' worst fears.

Few would argue that Liverpool have had a poor season by their exceptionally high standards. But this poor form is a contribution of Torres and his team-mates. Whether the Liverpool supporters blame Roy Hodgson or the players for their position is open to debate but one thing that has remained constant this season is the inconsistent form of Torres.

Since his arrival at Anfield in the summer of 2007 from Atletico Madrid, the Spanish international has been a huge success. However, similarly to Wayne Rooney at Manchester United, Torres has struggled for form amid claims that he sees his future away from Liverpool. That time has seemingly arrived.

Having been the subject of a reported £35m bid from Chelsea which was rejected yesterday, reports were circling that Torres was keen for his employers to consider the London club's bid. These rumours were later followed up by the confirmation of a transfer request from the Spanish striker.

There are a number of reasons that make Torres' intention to leave so disrespectful and ill-timed.

Under the ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett and since the buy-out by John Henry, Torres was quite vocal in his thoughts on investing in players. Liverpool fans would have been forgiven for thinking that on a day in which Liverpool had agreed a deal to sign Luis Suarez, the Uruguayan striker, from Ajax, a transfer request would not be forthcoming.

Liverpool fans might have been forgiven for thinking that, in the light of his lacklustre displays and distinct lack of interest in the first half of the season, that a transfer request would not be forthcoming as he wanted to repay the faith shown in him by the club and their fans during this testing time.

Liverpool fans might have been forgiven for thinking that, since he signed a contract extension to run until 2013/14 as early as last summer, a transfer request would not be forthcoming as he had signalled his long term intention to remain on Merseyside.

Liverpool fans might not be so forgiving now.

The real cost of the Qatar 2022 World Cup bid

How quickly things can change.

A few months ago it would have been unimaginable to have envisaged France casting ridicule over one of their greatest ever footballers, but it seems that time has arrived.

As the dust finally settled following FIFA's decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, a certain Frenchman has been subjected to disparaging remarks that are threatening to undermine his reputation and status within the game.

It may come as a surprise but the individual in question is not Michel Platini, the UEFA president, but a certain Zinedine Zidane.

Arguably one of the greatest footballers of the past decade, Zidane is fast becoming ostracised in his adopted homeland for his involvement in the Qatari World Cup bid.

Lawyers are preparing their writs following an unprecedented barrage of criticism aimed at Zidane who is being accused of 'selling himself' to Qatar. Such hostility towards the man who led France in 1998 to World Cup success with two goals against Brazil would have been unimaginable a matter of months ago.

Zidane became a national hero following France's triumph but his recent endorsement of the Qatar bid, for which he earned a reported £1.9m, has seen him widely criticised for his motivations. French internet sites have been quick to cast aspersions on Zidane, with one saying "If China had paid him, he would have supported the Chinese bid".

Zidane, also referred to as 'Zizou', originated from Algeria but, in the eyes of the French public, this does not seem a reasonable motive for supporting the bid of a state with a population of only 1.7 million.

Yannick Noah, the former tennis player - turned - pop singer who is France's most popular public figure in opinion polls, summarised the recent furore when he said: "I love Zizou but that Qatar business stinks."

Noah is not the only personality to have his say. Christophe Aleveque, a comedian, went further by saying "This guy is an advertising hoarding with three neurons...who exploits his image outrageously. For me it's a form of prostitution."

Following intervention from Zidane's lawyers, Maitre Pascal Garbarini, Alvereque's lawyer, said that the comedian "regretted the use of certain terms" but maintained the thrust of his argument.

This dim view of Zidane could be damaging to his long-term commercial activities and standing in France, where he currently earns about £30m a year by fronting advertising campaigns for companies such as adidas, the dairy group Danone and the mobile phone operator Orange.

"There are no limits to one's dreams" he said in the advertisement for Qatar's bid. Only time will tell how long-lasting the damage will be from this much maligned endorsement to Zidane's reputation.

Holloway tracking Tranmere Rovers' and Bristol City youngsters

Ian Holloway, the Blackpool manager, is believed to be preparing two late bids in an attempt to bolster his squad before the January transfer window shuts.

Dale Jennings, the Tranmere Rovers youngster, has been attracting a lot of interest following a string of excellent displays for the League One side and it is thought Holloway wants to table an early bid in the hope that the lure of playing his expansive style of football and the Premier League will be enough for Rovers to part with their prized assets.

Due to the shoe-string budget that Blackpool have to play with it is rumoured that Marvin Elliott, the athletic Bristol City central midfielder, has been scouted by Blackpool as a potential replacement to Charlie Adam should the talk of his transfer to Liverpool come to fruition. No official approach has been made by the Lancashire club but it is thought that City value Elliott at around £1m which may prove to be a stumbling block.

Leyton Orient left trampled on in the race for the Olympic Stadium

Amidst all the pros and con's, the bitching and the fighting and the track or not the track, it seems that the money men and the cheque-book culture in football has forgotten an old friend.

The Olympic stadium, the subject of two much-publicised bids from West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur, is located in Stratford. It is an Olympians stones-throw away from Brisbane Road, the home of Leyton Orient, a club established in 1881, some 14 years before West Ham and one year before Spurs.

Yet, in the ensuing scramble to win the rights to the Olympic Park site, this fact has been shamelessly overlooked, swept under the carpet, ignored. Once again it is a case of the little club being forgotten, or at least hidden, beneath the stacks of notes and IOU's brought to the table by the two Premier League clubs.

Richard Scudamore, the chief executive of the Premier League, recently stated that "had Orient kicked up more of a fuss the West Ham and Spurs bids would have been blocked". The question is, who exactly would have listened? The Premier League? No. The Football League? No. Both have a regulation that states their Boards shall only grant consent to a member Club to move to another ground which (wait for it) 'would not adversely affect Clubs having their registered grounds in the immediate vicinity of the proposed location'.

Barry Hearn, the Leyton Orient chairman, voiced his concerns in a damning verdict of the proposed moves and the implications it may have on his club, was Scudamore listening? No. Hearn said: “Unfortunately the [Olympic] stadium is poorly designed, unfortunately the stadium is a waste of public money and it’s things like that, that the government and the people involved in the Olympics don’t want to hear... Whoever goes there is not good news for Leyton Orient, they’re both massive clubs and I’ve likened it to Tesco moving next to the little sweet shop on the corner."

Should Spurs' bid be successful it undermines the whole "Olympic Legacy" ethos and should West Ham be successful (and stick to their word) the stadium would be a poor spectator experience for football fans. Above all though, the biggest loser would be Leyton Orient.

How tragic that the true legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games could be the death of a club with a 130 year history and one of football's most establish community clubs.

Holloway & Adam set refreshing example during turbulent transfer window

Come February 1, 2011, Charlie Adam may no longer be a Blackpool player but this is irrelevant to the mood of this article.

As of yet, Blackpool have not received a bid which they feel is realistic to prise Adam away from Bloomfield Road. Ian Holloway, the Blackpool manager, has been as open about the fact that they have received bids as he has been quick to describe them as "insulting".

It is believed that Liverpool, Birmingham and Aston Villa have all registered an interest in the Scottish international.

What makes this situation so refreshing is that both parties have a mutual understanding and respect for each other. On so many occasions you will hear the manager of a football club praise the subject of transfer speculation in the vein hope that the player will be hanging on every word and not have his ears covered by his agents hands.

Holloway has made no secret of the fact that he wants his captain to play at a higher level, meaning a bigger club. He has alluded to discussions that he has had with Adam about a "career plan" which consists of him progressing to a bigger club at some point in the near future. As entertaining as Holloway can be and as jovial as he may come across he is also a man who is a realist. He understands that Blackpool has financial constraints, he understands that their season objective was to stay in the Premier League and he also understands that keeping Adam beyond his remaining 18 month contract is highly unlikely.

Similarly to Holloway, Adam deserves a lot of praise for his conduct during a time which is surely both exciting and distracting. Unlike so many footballers previously in this position, Adam has remained silent and sustained the level of performances that has seen him become one of the most talked about midfielders in the Premier League. As of yet, and it is important to realise that there is still time for this to happen, Adam has not come out and demanded a move or thrown his metaphorical toys out of his pram. Instead, he has acted every bit like the consummate professional Blackpool supporters would expect.

After all, Adam owes as much to the Tangerines as they do to him for where they find themselves. Holloway gave Adam an escape route from the periphery of a Rangers team where chances were limited by bringing him to Bloomfield Road in the hope that he could help maintain their Coca-Cola Championship status. No-one could have envisaged that they would gain promotion to the Premier League. It was fairy-tale stuff.

Having been made early season favourites to be relegated from the Premiership, many suggesting that they would do worse than Derby County's record of eleven points in an entire season, Blackpool are currently on 28 points and find themselves 12th in the table after 22 games; something few would have predicted.

If Blackpool are to stay up then they need to retain their influential captain which is why Holloway has branded the bids so far as "disgraceful". He is acutely aware of the void that would be left should Adam leave before the end of the January transfer window and the increasingly less time he has to find a potential replacement.

Despite the shoe-string budget Blackpool has to work with and the wealth of clubs circling their club, its uplifting to see that they will not be bullied into selling their biggest asset for anything less than what represents a good deal for the club, the player and the team.

Piquionne dismissal divides opinion...

Frederic Piquionne's red card at Goodison Park yesterday has been the subject of much debate with the referee, Peter Walton, heavily criticised for dismissing the West Ham United striker.

The decision has been labelled a 'nonsense', a 'joke' and one which proves that 'referees haven't played the game'. One thing it wasn't labelled was correct.

Yes, it's a stupid rule and, yes, it's time the FA reviewed its stance on this aspect of the game but the one person who should avoid criticism in this episode is Mr Walton.

Week in, week out, fans and pundits bemoan the lack of consistency in decisions made by our referees. Some say this adds to the game and some would argue that standards need to be maintained. Last week, in the game between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, Rafael da Silva, the United full back, got a booking for a tackle on Wilson Palacios of Spurs. He got the ball, but the manner in which he threw himself into the tackle could, on another occasion, have seen him dismissed.

Whether we like it or not, celebrating a goal by jumping into a section of your supporters is worthy of a yellow card and, perhaps most significantly in this argument, has been for some time. This is one of the few areas of the game that referee's can maintain the consistency that is so often demanded of them by all of us connected with the game.

Suppose, for argument's sake, that Piquionne had not been given a second yellow card and remained on the pitch and, in their next Premier League fixture away to Blackpool, he scores the winning goal or has a performance that is decisive in a West Ham victory. Would Blackpool feel aggrieved? Of course they would.

Sometimes, whether it qualifies as common sense or not, you have to just accept the decision and accept that the referee is bound, by the laws of the game, to make them.