Graceful Swans, fabulous Fulham

EVEN Kenny Dalglish was never humiliated like this.

As mocking West Brom fans chanted the name of the former Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers squirmed uncomfortably on the touchline watching his new charges taken apart by a squad tipped by some for relegation.

And to add to the embarrassment, the mastermind behind Albion’s victory was Steve Clarke, Dalglish’s good mate and also shown the door at Anfield this summer to make way for the Rodgers revolution.

Those thousands of Liverpool fans who travelled to The Hawthorns with great optimism will this morning fear the Champions League is even further away than last season when Dalglish was jettisoned by hard-faced owner John W Henry for finishing 19 points off the top four.

For Albion, there was unbridled joy, with Zoltan Gera celebrating his return from a serious cruciate injury by smashing in the opener.

Liverpool, who played decently enough in the first half without hurting Albion, capitulated.

Daniel Agger conceded a penalty and was sent off. And, though Pepe Reina saved a weak effort from Shane Long, Martin Skrtel then tripped the same player to give West Brom a second spot-kick.

This time, Peter Odemwingie nearly broke the back of the net and celebrated by stuffing the ball up his jersey as a good-luck message to his pregnant wife.

Poor Rodgers was even forced to send on Andy Carroll as damage limitation, the centre-forward he is so keen to get rid of. And things wouldn’t have got any easier when he walked off the pitch to hear the club he left in the summer, Swansea, had won 5-0.

Rodgers said the final scoreline was ‘harsh’ and felt the turning point arrived when Agger chased Long and the Irish striker collapsed to the turf after the gentlest of touches.

‘The sending-off killed us,’ he said. ‘An appeal is certainly something we will look into. I am not going to go on about referees but I don’t think either were penalties.

‘Our players will be hurting by the result. We had good control and rhythm in the first half and it looked as if we would get the first goal.’

Clarke had a different view. ‘There was contact for both penalties. Shane is an honest player.

‘Overall, I thought Liverpool were under more pressure than us and it showed. I’ve no axe to grind with Liverpool. I’d be just as happy beating any team like that. We spent the week talking about what we could do to them.’

Liverpool came out of the traps early and Luis Suarez was a whirl of clever twists and turns as he twice tested Ben Foster.

But he was also isolated at times, with Fabio Borini, Stewart Downing and Steven Gerrard slow to support.

And Liverpool paid the price when Skrtel cleared a corner to Gera, who needed only one touch to control before despatching the perfect half-volley into the top corner.

The Hungarian’s exuberant celebrations were understandable — this was his first game since said the Dane afterwards with more than a touch of understatement.

Fulham crushed Norwich 5-0 at Craven Cottage thanks to a dominant performance and a brace from Mladen Petric.

Damien Duff, Alex Kacaniklic and Steve Sidwell also netted.

Stoke City drew 1-1 with Premier League new boys seriously damaging his knee in November.

Until that point, Liverpool had scored well for artistic impression with debutant Joe Allen pulling the strings. But they also looked flimsy, something that cost Dalglish his job despite reaching two cup finals.

Suarez must have unleashed halfa-dozen shots and was booked for dissent as his frustration grew.

And it was a horror story at the other end, too, as Long got goalside SWANSEA and Fulham started the season with a bang, slamming five goals without reply past hapless opponents.

Midfielder Michu scored a goal in each half on his league debut as the Swans thumped QPR 5-0 at Loftus Road.

Nathan Dyer added two more before Scott Sinclair rounded off the rout to give new manager Michael Laudrup the perfect start.

‘That was impressive,’ Reading at the Madejski Stadium after they gave away a penalty and were reduced to 10 men in the dying minutes.

Michael Kightly fired Tony Pulis’ side into the lead, but the Royals salvaged a point when Adam le Fondre equalised from the spot as Dean Whitehead was sent off for a second booking.

Kevin Nolan’s strike gave West Ham a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa at Upton Park.

Nolan scored from close range in the 40th minute from Ricardo Vaz Te’s assist to edge the new boys ahead before they had a penalty shout denied after the break.

Newcastle enjoyed a 2-1 home win over Tottenham in the evening kick-off.

Demba Ba curled the Geordies ahead before Jermain Defoe equalised in the second half.

But Hatem Ben Arfa scored the winner from a penalty after being fouled. of Agger and waited for the Dane to gently shove him in the back, which he duly did.

Long’s penalty was tame but, after Downing had been sacrificed for Jamie Carragher, Skrtel left his foot in and Long tumbled over for another penalty, converted by Odemwingie.

Liam Ridgewell then crossed for Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku to head a third and, from then on, only Reina kept the score down, with one fine save in particular to deny Marc Antoine Fortune.

Carroll’s only contribution was to threaten a scrap with Ridgewell until wisely dragged away by Gerrard. Fellow sub Joe Cole suffered a suspected hamstring pull.

It all made for a sobering start for Rodgers, who is under no illusions 90 minutes into his Premier League career at Liverpool.

‘It is all very well talking about patience but you have to win games,’ he acknowledged.

Next up, Manchester City.