I always find it irritating when reading about my beloved Liverpool FC from those on the other side of these rose-tinted glasses. Whenever I hear people talking about what’s good for us and how we could improve, it always astounds me to how little they “get” Liverpool FC. We are not just another club, not another franchise. No other club has the same aura Liverpool FC has, or had I should say.
Since we won our last league title and since Kenny Dalglish left the club, Liverpool FC has been torn up from the inside out. Many from their naivety, others without realising. The fact is the clubs downfall has been its own doing or has it?
Ever since Roy Hodgson took charge last Summer, I always had a feeling in the back of mind thinking, why? Indeed the club was a mess, we were playing Cowboys and Indians it seemed, whilst the media was having a field day, those in charge at the club and trusted with its well-being seemed to be pretty clueless, drowning in their own incompetency. But, I decided to leave these thoughts in the back of my mind, give this Roy of the Rovers his chance, if we got top 6 I’d be happy. The key thing was to get rid of these 2 Cowboy owners and the cancerous aura from the club, left by those incompetent fools making the wrong decisions all the time.
Roy showed his lack of management skills pretty evidently. Ignoring his woeful record during his spell, it was clear to see he didn’t fit in nor did he get Liverpool FC or its philosophy. He only had to glance at the Kop to see what it meant to be a part of Liverpool FC, how we stuck together. I didn’t care much about his faux-pas with the media, his attitude towards the supporters and the current owners. It was clear he was out of his depth. He just couldn’t realise that, the media doesn’t protect you as much when you’re Liverpool manager, you get attacked left, right and centre. It was his footballing style that got me annoyed more than anything. Trying to watch the games was not only filled with disappointment, but depressing at times. His negative, cautious, hoof the ball up to Torres was that of minnows. Liverpool FC are not minnows, or really were not minnows. But soon enough Liverpool FC found themselves 19th – yes 19th! I’ve never seen us lying so low in the table.
Whether Roy was / is a good manager is divided opinion. My opinion is made, it’s proven by fact. He’s a manager for mediocrity and mid-table. A medium fish in a medium-sized pool. An average manager. Those who want to sit there in denial, feel free to, I really don’t care about your opinions. If his history of achieving mediocrity and failing at all the big clubs he’s ever been to isn’t proof enough then, you are delusional beyond help.
By January we had new owners and we were longing for a new manager. This is when The King Returned. Immediately the football was more positive, we played pressing football, attacking football and most importantly on the floor, passing, moving and creating space for ourselves. Despite losing to a dubious penalty decision at Old Trafford in the FA Cup and playing with 10 men for a long time, the mood around the club was already lifted. We could see with our eyes, how much the team improved, how much more confident they were. It was a clear sign of things to come. The nay sayers still sat in their corners. Criticizing, poking fun at the result. Because that’s what they are, results people. They don’t watch the games, nor the football, to them all they need to do is see the final result – because the better team always wins. A few highlights on Match of the Day is enough to reaffirm their belief that the team that won was the better team. Ignorance is bliss, so leave them be.
The appointment of Kenny was a sign the club was finally getting ready to lick its wounds, recover and come back stronger than ever before. We were finally moving in the right direction, at the very least up the league table. The buzz around the club was quite evident. Even the press was being put back down a few levels, back where their opinions belonged, back where they should be – commentating on games and showing them. They’d become a circus, infatuated with the inflated ego, wages and prices of players. Drunk on the nectar of oil barrens and billionaires. Football itself was being dragged down by them. No one would deny money plays too much a part in football today, but Kenny came in and showed you could still achieve something with honesty, effort and teamwork – the exact opposite Roy spouted out of his mouth and the very same thing the mass media kept on feeding us. Liverpool FC’s squad was poor, Roy could only do what he could with what he had. How did Kenny do so much better with effectively the exact same squad? Philosophy has changed.
Football is not complicated, it’s still the same concept it was 20, 30, 40 years ago. The standards may have changed, the levels of fitness, tactics and money most definitely have. But the core is still the same. It’s still a team game. Working together you can achieve more, that means everyone being on the same page within the club. From the boardroom to the pitch. Owners, Directors, Managers, Coaches, Players, Staff and the Fans. That’s what’s been missing for the last 22 years. There perhaps was only one man who could have instilled that same unity once again – thank the heavens for us, he’s come back.
Long. Live. The. King.
mark webster
May 23, 2011
Fair point, well made Abul
, methinks Bruce , Hughes or Moyes will replace him, so long as British talent remains an integral part of MU i’ll be happy, caps will be introduced sooner or later, so managers aware of that will flourish, god help the Arsenal 
mark webster
May 23, 2011
If you look at RH’s form with WB, minimal resources, and cheap players, his latter year form compares well with KD’s, Pool supporters fixate themselves with certain managers, and hold dead set against others, those last two games supported my opinion that this is yet another false dawn, and pool are as far away as ever from being top 4 material, trouble is, only time will tell whose opinion is right, i’ll give £50 to a charity of your choice if Pool finish in the top 6 next year, merely being correct will be reward enough for me
Abul
May 23, 2011
That’s exactly my point. WBA are a relegation fighting team. Different pressure and expectations. If Roy loses 10 on the trot with WBA no one would expect anything less. Lose 3 games with a top 4 team and you’ll be getting the sack before too long.
False dawn? That will only be revealed when the dust has settled. I’m not naive to the fact the squad needs strengthening, but what’s key is the foundations have been laid and there is a different philosophy at Anfield now – that’s the key issue here.
I wouldn’t expect you to understand that, maybe until Sir Alex has passed on from Utd and they face the same problems.
mark webster
May 23, 2011
Last two results were dismal and saw Pool reverting to type, KD had the brass neck to blame RH for not getting in to the E league, true, form was poor early on, but fact is two simple draws would have seen them home, and whose fault was losing to Spurs and Villa..
Abul
May 23, 2011
Fault? No ones. Spurs outplayed us early on, whilst Mr Howard Webb wanted to assist with the 2nd goal, which meant game over.
Performance at Villa was much better, but Villa got a break through early on which made it more difficult. It was the last game of the season and Villa are actually one of the form teams at the time. Result was harsh on us.
Did you actually watch both the games in full? If you did, you’d have seen both of these things quite easily.
Kenny should blame RH for the lack of Europa league, surely it’s more of a testament to how he’s turned the ship around with virtually the same resources to get into a position where we could even think of qualifying for Europa League.