Liverpool FC Asia Tour update..Thurs 14th July 2011

Thursday July 14 22:21 - Paul Eaton
It's been another busy day and I am just back in the hotel now after travelling back from Liverpool's open training session in Kuala Lumpur. If anyone doubted Liverpool's fans who live thousands of miles away are as passionate as those who live in Anfield then the scenes inside the Bukit Jalil National Stadium will dispel those doubts.
It was also a surreal experience for myself and cameraman Paul Hayton. Shortly after arriving at the stadium while the players all turned left to head to the dressing room, Paul and I walked out through the tunnel and the sight of our white Liverpool Standard Chartered tracksuits were enough to bring 38,000 fans to their feet. The noise was deafening and took us somewhat by surprise!
We were only the warm up for the main act, though, and when Kenny and the lads took to the field the place went crazy. It's on nights like this that we're all so proud to work for and represent Liverpool Football Club.
The players went through a full session and ended it with a lap of honour having changed into their new adidas third strip.
As we left the stadium, we could only imagine what the atmosphere is going to be like on Saturday night considering how loud it was for a training session this evening
Thank you Malaysia for the brilliant welcome we've had so far.

Thursday 14 July 17:05 – Paul Rogers

Just back from providing live Twitter coverage to all the @LFC followers for a special Standard Chartered-sponsored Q&A session with Phil Thompson hosting a sit down interview with Ian Ayre and Kenny Dalglish in front of an invited audience of 50 fans. For those who didn't get the chance to follow the Twitter coverage, Thommo was a great host - funny and passionate at the same time - while Kenny was in particularly sharp form. On the hundreds of fans waiting to greet the team when they arrived at 6am in Malaysia, Kenny joked: 'I couldn't believe that they were all there at that time of the morning. It was either amazing or they were all homeless...' On the players being in awe of the support in Asia: "We've brought a lot of young kids with us and what an experience it is for them to see these scenes with so many fans. Jack Robinson is 17, Conor Coady is 18, Andre Wisdom is 18, Flanno is young, Shelvey is young - although he looks 40!" And finally, on his return to manager's dugout after 20 years away: "Aye, it's going well, we haven't lost a game since May!"

Top three highlights of Thursday for me:
1. Meeting Sheldon Xavier for a chat in our hotel lobby this morning. Sheldon has been writing a great blog about the LFC tour from a fan perspective as he lives here in Kuala Lumpur. We had a great chat about all things LFC and he rather also promised me he’ll bring me a stuffed Malaysian tiger for my kids – which was very nice of him! Click here to check out his blog: http://bit.ly/q9zA2f

2. Walking round the entire running track of the Bukit Jalil Stadium with Ian Rush, Phil Thompson and Ian Ayre just after arriving at the ground for training earlier. The amount of stuff – shirts, scarves, caps, even a dirty white vest at one point – that was getting thrown over the moat for Rushie and Thommo to sign was unbeleievable and full credit to the pair for signing everything they did. Later, when the pair were sat in the bar - with Rushie buying everyone’s beers – they were still talking about the atmosphere at the training session. “I’ve never been to Malaysia before,” Thommo told me, “but it’s amazing. The whole day has been superb from start to finish. I’ve loved it.”
3. Meeting so many fantastic groups of fans – particularly hanging around the hotel. As I’ve recently fallen off the smoking bandwagon after five years without a single cigarette (I’ve promised my wife and kids I’ll pack in when I get back to the UK – which will be quite difficult if I buy more in Duty Free), I’ve spent a bit of time outside the hotel lobby enjoying the odd cigarette or three and so have spent loads of time chatting and getting to know loads of the fans from both here in Malaysia – and before in China. It’s brilliant to just talk with the fans and ask them about their passion for LFC and their lives in general. Two fans I met earlier were Ashikin Majid and Meor Ezammer (pictured together below with lucky mascot ‘Shy Baby Remmaze’) who are getting married next Saturday and hope to go to Anfield on their honeymoon...