What the papers say

Last Updated : 29-Sep-2003 by
As expected, one man's speed, opportunism and incisive finishing decided yesterday's match here. Yet the player concerned was not Liverpool's Michael Owen but Kevin Lisbie of Charlton Athletic. When the relative qualities of Premiership strikers are discussed the name of Lisbie is unlikely to jostle for attention with the likes of Owen, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer or any one of Chelsea's expensive marksmen. Yesterday, however, the 24-year-old from Hackney completed a memorable hat-trick with the aplomb of a seasoned international... Certainly Liverpool felt so and this contributed to their undoing. Their football became leisurely. Too often they gave the ball away in their own half and growing evidence of Lisbie's capacity for causing problems on the break was ignored... Lacking Dietmar Hamann, they played Steven Gerrard in front of their back four, which cost them attacking momentum when they needed it most without providing an answer to Lisbie's pace. This is what ultimately cost them a match they needed to win to strengthen their credentials as serious title contenders.
David Lacey, Guardian

Jeered by his own supporters a few weeks ago and almost packed off on loan by his manager, Kevin Lisbie was no one’s idea of a saviour down at The Valley. He cannot even be sure that Charlton Athletic will spare him from the dole at the end of the season but yesterday he took home the match ball and a magnum of champagne as his reward for one of the Premiership’s most unlikely hat-tricks... Charlton had no choice other than to forget their caution, although the game was probably decided more by Liverpool’s defensive inadequacies. Gérard Houllier is very proud of his “new, attacking style” but yesterday it appeared to have come at the cost of exposing a back line in which Sami Hyypia and Dudek looked anything but reliable seniors... This was only Charlton’s second league win at home in seven months and it is hard to see how they can survive in the top division if Curbishley departs to White Hart Lane. That depends on O’Neill deciding if he wants to wait for an approach from Liverpool, possibly next summer. And every defeat for Houllier adds to the intrigue.
Matt Dickinson, The Times

There is a set of shackles gathering dust at Anfield, the ones Gérard Houllier finally took off his players this season. The question this morning, in the wake of yesterday's damaging defeat at The Valley, is whether the Liverpool manager will be tempted to put them back on. In the immediate aftermath of this match, which dropped Liverpool to eighth in the table, Houllier insisted he would "not, at the moment, reconsider" the team's adventurous new approach. He should not. Had it not been for some sloppy defending, brought on by complacency, and the misfortune of meeting Kevin Lisbie in the form of his life, Liverpool would have won... Liverpool had looked set for their fourth Premiership win in succession when Vladimir Smicer broke on to Harry Kewell's beautifully weighted pass to put them ahead after 14 minutes. It looked, though, as if they believed this themselves for they eased up and paid for it when Lisbie began his remarkable one-man performance.
Glenn Moore, Independent

In the gents, one Charlton fan turned to another: "I never thought I'd live to see a Kevin Lisbie hat-trick." Booed off the pitch on the season's opening day, Lisbie has stopped his Charlton career sliding down the pan.

Liverpool were buried here yesterday by a 24-year-old journeyman who had previously scored only 15 times in 135 appearances (85 of them as a substitute). The coup de grace was a thrilling 70-yard run and finish that prompted Gerard Houllier to describe next Saturday's game against Arsenal as "make or break" for his Liverpool side. "All footballers have highs and lows, and perhaps I have more than most," said Lisbie, whose third goal was surely one of the best scored down at the Valley... So the right balance between defence and attack again eluded Liverpool.
Paul Hayward, Telegraph