Lost lives, sick chants and playground excuses - it's time football grew up.

Last week, after 23 years of fighting, finally saw the real truth released about the Hillsborough tragedy in which 96 Liverpool fans died in a crush. The release of the information was celebrated, not just on Merseyside, but around the footballing world.

There was a clear sense, by most, that this was not a matter that belonged in the tribalism of football, but to all football fans in the UK.

The despicable, cold-blooded, self-preservationist cover-up of the authorities; the choosing of a clearly unsafe ground by the FA, despite warnings of previous troubles there; the utter shithousery of The Sun and, in particular, the odious sputum Kelvin Mackenzie and their readiness to lap up from the trough of slurry that the police fed them to steer the blame onto innocent fans.

All these things were not just an agenda against Liverpool but on football fans themselves.

Such unification led to hopes from most quarters that the realisation of just how terrible these types of tragedy are would mean the end of sick chants, from all fans, about all disasters, the defence of which has always been based on some kind of pathetic, sad playground mentality of "oh, but they started it," "yeah but theirs is worse, sir."

Surprisingly (or perhaps, sadly, predictably) a fine example of this came on Saturday, in the aftermath of Manchester United's home game against Wigan. A minority - and it was a minority - of Man United fans in the Stretford End piped up with a song including the lyrics "always the victim, it's never your fault."

Now, given it is hugely unlikely that this chant was aimed at Wigan and it came no fewer than three days after the Hillsborough revelations, it doesn't take a significant leap of logic to identify Liverpool fans as the target of this snide chant.

Immediately fans justifying the song argued that the song was not about Hillsborough but was in regard to the Suarez/Evra saga. This creates two questions: Why sing it against Wigan and, why, when the message behind such a purposefully non-specific chant could be easily be affected by the context surrounding it, sing it in the week the Hillsborough disaster was all over the news?

It's the type of argument that stands up about as well as Danny Welbeck or Luis Suarez in a penalty area. The kinds of fans that sing these songs are morons but none of them are moronic enough to think a song like that that, in a week like this, could be taken out of context. Are they?

And if it is just about Suarez, then what does the word 'always' refer to? It certainly refers to more than one more incident they think Liverpool fans feel aggrieved over. Surely, given the goings on over the past few days, the only logical answer is Hillsborough?

The sheer fact that the club itself released a statement about the chant is significant enough as to what they felt it alluded to, even if it didn't specifically say so.

Some fans decided to go down the even more stupid, deluded and bastardised route of defending the chant, saying it was not about Hillsborough but about Heysel, another stadium disaster in which 39 fans died and one in which a number Liverpool fans were found to have contributed to.

Well that's fine, then. Because, despite the fact that most Liverpool fans around at that time are fully aware and ashamed of what went and don't paint themselves as the victims of that day, what problem could anyone possibly have with using 39 lost lives as a tool for fetid point scoring?

"Justice for the 39" they may exclaim, guided by some abomination of a plastic, warped, faux-moral compass.

If that's the angle they're taking to facilitate and paint their own unashamed obscenity in an acceptable light, then maybe they should read this piece by Oliver Kay, assuming they have a well-enough evolved brain to process multi-syllable words.

Of course, these are just two crap excuses in a long line that football supporters of numerous clubs have reeled off in an effort to justify using a loss of lives as 'banter'.

United fans point to the vulgar chants about the Munich disaster from fans of Liverpool and Leeds as justification for their retorts based on Heysel while Leeds fans hastily point out sick songs about the stabbings in Istanbul that claimed the lives of two of their fans.

The fans of these clubs have every right to be offended and angry about these disgusting chants but none of them have the right to counter them with equally twisted and abhorrent songs.

A lot of the people who sing these songs aren't even old enough to have been involved in or even remember the events about which they ignorantly sing about.

Numerous fans on Twitter air their ill-formed views on disasters which occurred within months of their birth, or many years before it all together, with it patently obvious none of whom have done any sort of informed reading on the subject they throw in peoples faces.

They are often wilfully ignorant of the magnitude of and couldn't possibly relate to the feelings of the people involved or witnessing these events first hand or their aftermath and that these events affect more than just the clubs involved. In fact, they have far more in common with each other than they perhaps want to realise.

I was once on a train on which a small number of young 'men', deficient in all but a larynx and base motor skills, aged between 17 and 22 were singing disgusting songs about Munich, throwing paper aeroplanes about the carriage.

When challenged why they were singing such songs, one laughed "because they're wankers" and another defiantly chipped in "nah, it's because they sing about Hillsborough."

Sorry, but neither of those excuses are reasons to joyfully sing about lives lost in accidents or any other way.

It is a good bet that none of them were aware that an ex-Manchester City star, Frank Swift, died in that crash; that Sir Matt Busby, the legendary manager who survived the crash which claimed the lives of many of his 'Babes', was once club captain for Liverpool  and a dear friend of Bill Shankly or even that teams like Liverpool lent players so that Manchester United could fulfil their remaining fixtures.

The vile culture that allows the precious lives of innocent people to be used as a cheap pawns in a pathetic game of point scoring and one-upmanship needs to stop.

The Manchester United fan that rang up 606 to speak of his shame at hearing such chants said it was a minority but it was an audible minority. He was spot on - the vocal minority of life-is-cheap scumbags are being heard over the decent but silent majority.

The silent majority needs to pipe up and drown them out. This includes the press that have ignored the issue for many years, the unspoken evil elephant in the room of terrace chants.

This morning, some Manchester United fans took to Twitter with a new slogan "offended by everything, ashamed of nothing" as if it is somehow wrong to be offended by shit like this.

In actual fact more fans should be offended. Vocally so. The only way to end the vitriol spewing from rival fans' mouths as they mock the dead of Munich, Heysel, Hillsborough or Istanbul is to make it blatant that this sort of thing will not be tolerated.

Frankly, if you either aren't offended or mock those for being offended by it, you are best off scuttling down to reside in the sewers with the same sub-species that support and sing this type of stuff in the first place.

No more tit-for-tat, no more toleration of school yard excuses of "but they started it". Football needs to grow up.

Transfer window madness: The strangest moves this summer.

Jordan Rhodes (Huddersfield Town to Blackburn Rovers)

First of all, let's get this straight from the get go, as a player, Rhodes isn't a bad signing by any means; he's only 22, a Scotland international and scored a remarkable 40 goals in 45 game for Huddersfield, in League One, last season.

The barmy thing about this transfer is the fee. All £8 million of it. Whichever way you look at it, £8m is an awful lot of money to splash on a 22 year old who has only proven himself in League One, especially when you see that both Dimitar Berbatov and Emmanuel Adebayor went for less.

Nuno Gomes (Braga - Blackburn Rovers)

Yup, Blackburn again. Back in the early 2000s, Nuno Gomes was one of the hottest striking prospects in Europe. Now, at 36, the former Portuguese hitman finds himself in the N-Power Championship trying to help a Lancashire-based box of frogs return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

Having appeared to be winding down his career in his homeland and his best days behind him, to see him pitch up at Blackburn is something of a surprise. Maybe he'll be the experienced figure to aid Jordan Rhodes' development and help Rovers to promotion. On the other hand, Steve Kean might just have got real life mixed up with his Championship Manager 01/02 save.

Steve Kean eyes up his next Portuguese hotshot.

Julio Cesar (Inter Milan - Q.P.R.)

After narrowly escaping the drop last season, Q.P.R. needed to strengthen and tighten a leaky defence. Having shipped Paddy Kenny out to Leeds, they needed an upgrade in the goalkeeping department so turned to West Ham's Rob Green as their new number one. For all of two games.

Yes, no sooner had Rob Green made his first multi-annual cock-up, Mark Hughes swooped to sign Inter Milan's Brazilian custodian and formerly one of the most highly-rated keepers in the world. Unlucky, Bob.

Richard Wright (Preston North End - Manchester City)

Talking of once highly rated players and underwhelming English goalkeepers, Richard Wright's move to Manchester City was probably the most bizarre transfer to happen this summer. Not only has the former Arsenal and Ipswich man been signed with the idea in mind that he will never play, Wright's move comes off the back of a spell at Preston that lasted all of a month. The reason? He felt homesick at being so far away from his family in Ipswich.

Either Richard's geography isn't that great or that few extra grand a week means he can afford not to love his kids as much.

Learn geography with Richard Wright

No-one (Liverpool & Manchester United)

At some point in June, Alex Ferguson and Brendan Rodgers must have bumped into each other, literally, and dropped their pile of carefully prepared transfer plans. In the ensuing scramble to bashfully pick-up their notes, the two managers must have accidentally swapped papers.

Liverpool needed goals and ended up signing two central midfielders; Manchester United needed a new central midfield and ended up with a star striker.

Whilst the Red Devils' transfer failings can be masked by the potency of Robin van Persie, Liverpool's bungled pursuit of a goal-getter isn't likely to be made any better by the fact three of their big signings are two midfielders not renowned for hitting the back of the net and a young, hard-working but ultimately inexperienced forward.

Giampaolo Pazzini/Antonio Cassano (Swap deal between Inter Milan & A.C. Milan)

The surprising thing about this transfer isn't that it happened between two fierce rivals - the transfer market between these two clubs has always been surprisingly open - but the fact that neither player seemed to fit in at the club they were going to.

As Zonal Marking's Michael Cox explains, Pazzini is at his best when wingers are putting crosses into the box, a style of football Milan haven't played in a long while. Meanwhile, at Inter, it's not entire certain if or how Cassano will slot into the team in a way which will make his signing worthwhile.

Gaston Ramirez (Bologna to Southampton)

There are a few questions hanging over this move:

Where did Southampton get £16m from?

How did they tempt one of Uruguay's star players and one of Europe's hottest properties to St Mary's?

How long will he stick around for?

After supposedly having about 48 medicals at Liverpool, according to Twitter's many 'In The Know Agents', what is the record for the number of medicals at a club before signing somewhere else?

Joey Barton (Q.P.R. to Marseille on loan)

I mean, seriously, why? Just why?

Is the League Cup still worthwhile?

The second round of English football's shunned cousin has just finished, signifying the introduction of the genuinely big teams (no offence, Fulham) into the third round draw.

As is the way with these things, there's no standout glamour tie. Your eyes are probably drawn to Manchester United vs Newcastle United as the first two cubes out of the tub, but even that clash between two of last season's top five will most likely be a letdown for whichever poor bunch of mugs pick it to screen on tv.

In years past, it was Man United who were seen as 'ruining the Coca Cola Cup' and 'not giving it the credit it deserves', but that seems to have changed to a degree as they've won three out of the last seven finals. Indeed, if you look at the recent winners, since Middlesbrough's win in 2004, 10 of the 16 finalists have been from the top six of the Premier League, and the winning sides have been United (3), Chelsea (2), Spurs, Liverpool and Birmingham.

If it wasn't for Arsenal's appalling capitulation to Birmingham in 2011, you're looking at a roll of honour arguably better than that of the FA Cup in the same timeframe, considering the glorious old trophy was sullied by Portsmouth's name in 2008, after a final that, quite frankly, football should be ashamed of in both its participants and for the quality of the match itself. Indeed, of those teams outside the top six, Spurs make up two of them in 2008 and 09, and last season's final accounts for another two.

Anyway, enough stats, time for a reasoned argument. My point it, it would appear that any 'big' club that decides it wants to win the League Cup in any given season can pretty much do so at will. All it took United was playing Dimitar Berbatov, for Christ's sake. And while the Ferguson-inspired trend for playing fringe players does continue, it's not only the title chasing sides doing it now, but seemingly everyone from the Premier League, and even some from the Championship.

It used to be that the League Cup was a handy route into Europe for teams that had no hope of making it on the merit of league position. Blackburn in 2002, Middlesbrough in 2004 and Liverpool in 2012 all made it into the UEFA Cup or Europa League through this least noble of non-Intertoto routes. But even those midtable chancers aren't pulling their weight now.

Take that Man U v Newcastle game, for instance. Alan Pardew has already come out and said that the Europa League and Capital One Cup are not a priority, and even Stoke were at it, making six changes that would ultimately contribute to them being knocked out by Paolo di Canio's Swindon. Surely this is a competition made for Stoke to get some glory and weasel their way into Europe again to give Tony Pulis some fixture congestion to moan about after Sporting Lisbon are forced to be tested on a wet Thursday night at the Britannia.

The point is, nobody seems to take this competition seriously any more. Attendances around the country are down on League Cup nights compared to midweek league games. I pointed out that the big clubs seem to be coming back into dominance, but that's seemingly just because everyone is putting their second string out, and you'd fancy City, United or Chelsea's bench to be better than Villa, QPR or Wigan's any day of the week.

Even the incumbent sponsors don't want that third handle being shown.

So with nobody really caring about it, and the aforementioned fixture congestion an ever-increasing cliché in every football manager's press conference repertoire, what should be done with the League Cup, or whatever sponsor-driven name it's masquerading as this year. Well, in my humble opinion as a revered football blogger and armchair management genius, I say to the FA, just get rid of it.

Yes, it started in 1960, so it's got Over Fifty Years Of History tied to its three ridiculous handles, but what does history REALLY mean in football? In 1960 Wolves were a dominant force in world football, so shall we give them a bye until the fourth round in reverence? No, don't be ridiculous. They put out their second string against Northampton in the second round, anyway. And lest we forget that teams with a lot more than fifty years of history have been allowed to rot away into oblivion by an FA who prefer simply to sit back and apply a 10-point deduction rather than offering much-needed assistance.

Perhaps the focus for the history brigade should be that the FA Cup also seems to be taking a backseat in many managers' priorities. That is a competition that should have its integrity preserved, and if removing the League Cup from the schedules of teams, so be it.

Perhaps, since it's used as such anyway, and with the recent introduction of the Under 21 Premier League suggesting a focus on helping younger players progress through the ranks more effectively, the League Cup should be replaced by an official, higher-profile Under 21 cup, and the European spot be re-allocated to the league finishing positions again.

Whatever it is, I'd say something needs to be done to stop the League Cup becoming even more of an afterthought, and to stop it dragging down more important things with it. Because as it stands the cup shows no signs of becoming anything more than a waste of everyone's time.

One down, 37 to go... but what does it mean?

One of the favourite tricks of football pundits is trying to guess how a season will pan out based on nothing but pre-season form. Here at HTO, we refrain from such shoddy attempts at trying to sound smart. Instead, we prefer to jump to wild conclusions after the opening round of league games have been played.

Sometimes, the first few games of the season can be a fairly good indication of what to expect for the next nine months. Strikers who get themselves off to a flying start will quite often carry that form through the rest of the season. Look at the impact Papiss Cisse made at the start of his Newcastle career earlier this year.

But equally, you really cannot trust the first results. Defences are still dopey after the summer break, strikers are still pouring Caribbean sand out of their shooting boots, and referees... well, would we actually notice if they were any worse? However, despite my determination to avoid the obvious pitfalls of hyperbole (which I'll get to in a minute), there are some small truths to be found hidden amongst the pent-up excitement and frustration.

Sensationalisms 1 & 2: Man United won't even make Europe because they lost to Everton, who will be in the Champions League!

We know for sure that United struggled much more than they usually do on the opening day. But lest we forget 1995, when United lost 3-1 at Villa Park on in the first game. Alan Hansen remembers it well.

But to suggest this one blip (and face it, it is a blip) is indicative of United's ultimate fate is to miss some crucial points. Firstly, Kagawa still needs bedding fully into the side to reach his full effect, and Robin van Persie was hardly used at all. Second, United had two fit defenders. Two. Admittedly it was a Man of the Match performance from David de Gea that kept Everton down to one goal, but you can't expect a cobbled together back four to go to a notoriously tricky away game and keep a clean sheet.

On the other side of the coin, some, myself included, have noted that if Everton are actually bothering to turn up for the first dozen games of the season then they might just outdo their seeming rut of finishing just off the Europa places. If we can't trust this result one way, we can't the other either. What we can take from it is that Fellaini, when he's bothered, is near unstoppable, and that Everton are good at shutting down top teams at Goodison. Both of which we've known for years. More noticeable for Everton was that they're still limited to playing one striker and a few attacking mids because of their, well, one striker. After sitting back and thinking I'm not convinced they've replaced Cahill. Expect a solid 7th from them for now, and a title challenge from United.

Sensationalism 3: Man City should have made some signings and won't win the league, they only just beat Southampton!

Ah yes. It's true that City haven't signed anyone (Jack Rodwell notwithstanding) but their squad is half decent anyway, and at the risk of sounding cliché, Tevez being there for the whole season will be like a new signing in itself.

Also to be considered is that Southampton have clearly been watching videos of Blackpool. They didn't hold back, and as a result very nearly got something from the game. It should be noted that this ballsy manner of play did eventually get Blackpool relegated, something everyone seems to gloss over.

But enough about Southampton, it's City we're focusing on. Perhaps we should look more closely at the Chari Community Shield, where City bossed the game in the second half against Chelsea. Or even just hold on until they've been to Anfield this Sunday. And bear in mind they won the league after one of the worst displays against QPR I've seen from any team, never mind just City. 

Sensationalism 4: Fulham and Swansea will be top half for sure! And did you see that Michu? Signing of the season!

Get a grip. The only thing that those two games proved is that QPR and Norwich both have defences more than capable of going to pieces. Honestly, it's like you people have forgotten everything that happened last season already. Yes, Swansea played some nice football under the Laudrup that wasn't at Rangers, but they did last season under Brendan Rodgers too. And QPR folded to any form of nice football. 5-0 was a bit of a false reflection, but they put their chances away, which is the main thing to focus on.

Swansea's new striker is certainly an imposing presence

As for Michu (pictured above), while I did cite the instant impact and subsequent imperiousness of Papiss Cisse before, don't forget that for every Papiss there's a Djibril, and also don't get carried away with him scoring two when his first was yet another episode of 'Simple Things Rob Green Fails At'. Fulham's Petric had a better game for his two goals, but as I said before, the defence fell apart with alarming ease. The only thing Fulham need to worry themselves with is making sure Clint Dempsey doesn't get tempted out of their mid-table obscurity to go to a Big Club. Like...

Sensationalisms 5-183: Liverpool are doomed, Brendan Rodgers should be sacked, Suarez has gone off the boil, Carroll needs to leave and when will they buy someone from a proper club rather than picking the bones of the lower half of the Premier League?

Calm down, calm down. Yes, Liverpool were awful at the Hawthorns. And yes, they do only appear to have signed players that Brendan Rodgers has worked with before. But Liverpool had lots of dreadful games last season, with a squad as small as theirs it's a risk you have to live with. And it's hard to improve that squad when they're not exactly flush with cash (comparatively, anyway), so they can't afford to take another Carroll-sized risk in the transfer market. Rodgers was brought in to get the side playing the way he wants, and the best, safest and probably cheapest way to do that is to go for players he knows. Almost zero risk of picking a dud, and no time needed for the boss to adjust to how the signing needs to be used.

But don't think I'm jumping blindly to Liverpool's defence. Rodgers has been unacceptably stubborn with Andy Carroll, practically freezing him out despite seriously limited attacking options. And as much as they might be getting used to poor performances, there is surely a limit to the number of times Liverpool fans will accept those performances. It was undoubtedly them that caused Roy Hodgson's early departure, and on the other hand it was their blind support for King Kenny that led to them accepting his flaws and erratic signings.

Liverpool do clearly have a big task on their hands, but the fans need to not get too ahead of themselves with organising the firing squad for Rodgers. They should also prepare for a home defeat at the hands of Manchester City this weekend. Brendan Rodgers needs time, it's simply a case of whether the Kop will afford it to him.

Well, that's that. Hopefully I've managed to put a damper on most of the wild emotional swings you lot of nutters have had since the start of this fledgling season. I fully expect to have to have this talk the same time next year, but for now, just wait a few months until you start actually paying attention to the table, ok?

Does Swearing Crackdown Mean Sweet F.A.?

Wayne Rooney swears. He swears a lot.

In fact, believe it or not, most footballers swear. Some of them every single game. Now, some of these players swear at referees; this isn't really allowed. Not that you'd guess.

It is very rare, particularly in the Premier League, to see a player either booked or sent off for 'effing and jeffing' at the man in black. Rooney, it has to be said, is one of the most prominent players who are prone to one or two expletive-laden tirades at the officials. Yet, on most occasions, he is let off scot-free.

Why, then, are the F.A. choosing to ban him for his 'message' into the camera of Sky Sports?

This isn't to say it is the wrong move, mind. What Rooney did was stupid and to do it into a camera, a camera he knows is providing images to millions of viewers (viewers who include impressionable children), is both unprofessional and irresponsible.

What it does mean, however, is that the F.A. have, potentially, set a dangerous precedent.

Does this mean that all swearing by players will result in a ban? Or just swearing at referees? Or maybe it only counts if you're caught on camera? Possibly it's only if there's huge mock-outrage from the media... who knows?

If, next weekend, you spot a player giving a linesman a bit of 'friendly advice' of where he can store his flag and said player doesn't get booked; you'll know it's likely the latter.

What is more confusing is that this ban follows the F.A's refusal to punish Rooney for his near-assault of Wigan's James McCarthy.

Effectively, in punishing this yet refusing to punish the elbow; the F.A. have given the message: 'It's fine to smack someone in the head, as long as you don't tell him to 'f**k off' as you're doing it'.

It could be argued that this ban comes in lieu of the elbow incident. If so, then that is a further blow to their integrity; smacking of a Gene Hunt-esque modus operandi of 'we might not be able to get you on one score but we'll get you on something, no matter how shoddy'.

In any case, if the F.A are intent on cracking down on players swearing in camera-shot, then Mark Wright can expect a retrospective fine for his rather uncouth display of delight at lifting the F.A. Cup in 1992.

Argelico Fucks and Stefan Kuntz (and John Motson) can also count themselves lucky they avoided the Premier League.

Meanwhile, the F.A. continue to bemuse and blunder their way through their stewardship of the game; usually leaving us all thinking: "F***ing what?! What?! F***ing hell!"