SIR Kenny Dalglish?

I recently stumbled across a letter I wrote to LFC Magazine almost 10 years ago when the topic at the time was on the lines of  "Should  Kenny Dalglish be given a Knighthood?" (an extract of this was used in the article - yay me!)

As it turned out, this is only part one of the story.

Liverpool were in turmoil and disarray soon after new owners took over in 2007.  The Rafa Benitez era, which looked so promising, came to an end in June 2010.  By this time, Kenny Dalglish was already back at the club working in the Academy and acting as Club Ambassador.  He was asked for help in looking for Rafa's replacement and, despite wanting the role himself, the job was give to Roy Hodgson.

Roy's reign came to an end after just 6 months.  Too many defeats from the start of the season left Liverpool far too close to the relegation zone.  Kenny Dalglish took the reins as Caretaker Manager on January 8th 2011.  With the transfer window open, Kenny was thrust into the spotlight on the very last day.  Selling Torres to Chelsea for £50m and buying Carroll from Newcastle for £35m - Shrewd business or a panic buy?

After a relatively successful end to the campaign, considering the poor start, Liverpool finished in 6th place just missing out on a Europa League place.
In May 2011, Kenny signed a 3 year deal and he was back for a second term.

A disastrous spell of league form in 2012 should not overshadow the fact Kenny, in his first full year in charge, guided Liverpool to their first cup win in 6 years when they lifted the Carling Cup in February. With the FA Cup still to play for, is the 2011-2012 season really as bad as people and many 'fans' think?
The 'Kenny Out' brigade need to look at the bigger picture and realise most teams in the Premier League won't win a single trophy never mind be fighting for two.

Kenny Dalglish is a Liverpool legend and always will be.  It surely must only be a matter of time, as I stated almost 10 years ago, before the powers that be recognise Kenny for what he has achieved and give him the Knighthood he deserves.

All this without mentioning all the charity work he does away from football!

SIR Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish - you will never walk alone.

James Bulger Memorial Trust

Not long after my first post regarding James,
http://derekmoore549.blogspot.com/2012/02/never-forgotten-james-bulger.html
I discovered a charity was set up in his name by his mother Denise.

The charity's aims are “To benefit and support young people who are disadvantaged by reason of having become the victims of crime, hatred or bullying. To reward those who are judged to have shown exemplary conduct, making a positive contribution to the welfare of others, or society in general..."

(Registered Charity Number: 1141125)

Full details can be found on the official 'For James' website www.forjames.org 

Lots of events have taken place in order to raise money for the charity including 'Swim for James' by Lesley Lloyd and more recently, 'Laughter Factory' with Pauline Daniels and Gary Skyner.

I hope by raising awareness of the charity, the memory of James and the good work done by so many people will carry on.

Good luck to all those involved.

James Bulger Memorial Trust can be followed on Twitter... @jbmt1

"Gone, but never forgotten."

Never Forgotten - James Bulger

Nineteen years ago today, 2 year old James Bulger had his life taken from him in the most horrible way.  He was taken from The Strand shopping centre in Bootle and savagely tortured & beaten by 2...monsters.  These monsters were just 10 years old (I am using the term 'monsters' purposely as nothing else can describe them) and have already been released back into society to live their lives (although at least one has since returned to gaol for different crimes).

I don't normally feel emotional when bad things happen to other people but this tragic event is one of probably only 2 events that gets to me everytime I think of them (the other being Hillsborough and the ongoing fight for justice).

So why this event?  I'm not quite sure.  At 21, I didn't have kids then so can't relate to it as a parent.  I was in The Special Constabulary at the time and we were allowed to be attached to other departments.  On the Friday James went missing, I was working with the Traffic Police at Smithdown Lane.  The duty Sergeant came into the duty room and gave the usual hand-over of events that day.  One of the items was of a 2 year old boy who went missing from a shopping centre in Bootle.  Hand-overs like this were quite monotonous and were just part of the routine at the start of the shift.  This one struck a chord with me and I actually wrote down the details (description, etc) on a scrap piece of paper.
James Bulgers mutilated body was found 2 days later.

On the Tuesday or Wednesday the following week, I was walking back from Dale Street to Stanley Road Police Station to finish another shift when a call came out for assistance in Snowdrop Street, Kirkdale.  A house was being targeted by an angry crowd as it was rumoured to be the home of someone involved in the murder.

When I arrived at the street, there was a large crowd, TV crews and newspaper reporters.  It had to be explained to the people if the house was trashed it could destroy any evidence linking the boy who lived there to the crime.  Emotions were clearly running high.
As it turned out, the boy who lived there had nothing to do with what happened but due to the events, the family had to move away.

I still feel emotional even after all this time when I think of James Bulger.  I've even had to stop writing this piece after looking up certain facts and come back to it.

I don't know how Denise Fergus and Ralph Bulger have managed to cope after all this time I just hope they can find peace sometime.

Now, as the father of four kids, I'm relieved when my kids come home safe after playing out or coming home from school.  Nobody should have to suffer the way Ralph, Denise and certainly not James have done.

James Bulger - Never Forgotten



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger

Justice for Kevin Williams

This is my first attempt at a blog...and probably my last (although unlikely!)
So why now?

Well, I normally do my snippets and rants via Twitter (@degsy1013) but sometimes 140 characters just isn't enough.

Today has been all about Anne and Kevin Williams.  Kevin sadly died at Hillsborough aged just 15  (we all know what 'Hillsborough' means so I won't go into detail).  He died, apparently, at 15:15.  Why so accurate with the time? That is the legal cut off point of those who died that day.
His mother Anne has been campaigning since to have his inquest reopened as she has hard evidence he was alive up to 40 minutes past 15:15.

She started an on-line petition (E-Petition) that, by Government rules, meant if she got 100,000 signatures her case could be discussed in the House of Commons and potentially be re-opened.

This is the link to the E-Petition...

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/19149 

I think it was Tuesday 17th January when this suddenly went high profile with 50,000 signatures still needed.

Like many others I tweeted and re-tweeted this link to make as many people aware as possible.  I contacted somewhere in the region of 15 'Celebrities' and what I call big accounts (those high profile ones with lots of followers) up to 3 times.  Sadly only 4 actually retweeted (and hopefully signed).  I'm sure the others are very busy but it takes 2 seconds to hit the 'retweet' button so there is no excuse in my mind.  Even if they didn't agree (why wouldn't they?) what harm would it do to retweet it?  I could 'name and shame' them but it doesn't matter now as without their help at approx 14:00, the 100,000 signatures target was achieved.

The sense of relief when the target was reached was fantastic.  God only knows how Anne felt, but this is only part of her battle.

It's now up to people in the Commons to have yet another Hillsborough debate but hopefully common sense will prevail.

Well done to everyone involved in this.  Hopefully Anne will get the outcome she has been after for 22 years.
(The details in this are correct as I know it. Please feel free to correct me.)

#JUSTICEFORKEVIN