I watched the match today or yesterday, depending on the time zone you are in on ESPN. A haphazard guess would be that both Messrs Hicks and Gilett follow the fortunes of the reds from the same channel. As the match was one minute old they inform you on you screen, just below the small scoreboard who is playing in red jerseys and white jerseys. You can never assume that the viewer knows that Liverpool playing at Anfield always play in red. Being raised up on such information, some of the statements that have shocked me so much in the past few months start to make a tad more sense. You start stomaching them. While stomaching them you still have to close your eyes and there’s still every chance it will make you all sick and the body will thankfully only put it all out in no time.

This last Klinsmann story is simply unstomachable though. It defies belief, trust and credibility. It’s not just a hiccup while on the family dining room. It’s one in a series of blurts on a banquet that has now gone beyond all the elastic boundaries of acceptability. I now know that I am longing to see the back of Mr Hicks. I now know that I can’t stand the sight of him anymore.

And at the backdrop of all this, Liverpool faced the Championship side Luton Town in a replay for the FA Cup third round at Anfield. Anfield sold out on a very cold and wet Tuesday night, and the loyal servant Jamie Carragher recorded his name of the team sheet for the 500th time. A guard of honour including his boss Rafael Benitez started his night. But that was it, he quickly went back to business of leading the back four and the whole side. Just the Liverpool way. Trustable and without much fuss. Making a positive difference in the lives of the 40,000 at the match and the rest watching from anywhere that a Liverbird means much more to them than a logo, a brand or a franchise.

As expected the men in red pressed Luton back into their penalty area, but not into as much as into their shells. That was till the first forty-five minutes though. In the extra minute afforded, Ryan Babel drove home a right-footed shot into the corner of the net. The man in black rightly halted the match after that but the momentum in Liverpool had only just begun.

Just after the start of the second forty-five minutes, Steven Gerrard scored a hat-trick in no time and Sami Hyypia added another in between. Fernando Torres was rather off colour but it seems that he is picking and choosing his off days when the side can afford to, the last time being away to Newcastle.

The first win of 2008 has finally arrived then. No corners have been turned yet but at least a muddy surface created by insiders have been dealt through, and the name of the boss who once brought a European Cup for good has been aired with passion.