Even though it’s become increasingly certain over the last few days I didn’t know how I would feel about the appointment of Hodgson when it was confirmed until it actually happened. Then when I saw the headline: “Roy Hodgson is the new Liverpool FC manager” on the Liverpool Echo website, my heart sank and I felt gutted.
It’s not that Hodgson is a bad manager. He just isn’t a special one. Rafa was a special manager. Even though I knew it would require over-performance by Liverpool combined with under-performance by all of its closest rivals for Liverpool to be crowned champions, under Rafa I believed it was possible, however unlikely. I believed that because of his over-achievements in winning La Liga twice with Valencia and winning the Champions League with one of the worst Liverpool squads there has been. Under Hodgson, I don’t believe in miracles.
If our current squad remained intact, I would back him to finish in the top 7 again next season with 4th being as high as he feasibly could take us. Unfortunately, the current squad won’t remain intact. Benayoun is off to Chelsea. Mascherano is most certainly off – probably to rejoin Rafa at Inter. Gerrard is unlikely to be inspired to stay by the appointment of a journeyman with an unimpressive CV as manager and so will most likely move on also. If Gerrard goes, I can’t see Torres staying around and if Gerrard and Torres both go, who of the remaining players would want to stay? Johnson? Agger? Kuyt?
I have faith that under Hodgson things will get no worse than us being a mid-table club and realistically that is the best we could have expected under any manager in the circumstances but I wanted a manager whom I believed could lead us to the title if given the necessary financial backing. If Sheikh Khalifa or another billionaire benefactor pitched up at Anfield, I can only see Roy getting the boot.
As it is, Roy getting the boot is probably the only certainty in Liverpool’s future. On SKY Sports News they showed several fans talking about Roy as the ideal man to “steady the ship”. What exactly does that mean? Under him, we may well witness less acrimony between the manager and the board but what about the performance of the team on the pitch? There are still many fans who believe that we can challenge for and win the league this coming season. These same muppets who believed Rafa was holding us back last season will turn on Roy as soon as we are out of the title race by October (or probably September given our fixture list).
Witness exhibit A, the incredibly annoying liverpooldiehard who bombarded the Liverpool Echo all last season calling for Rafa’s head as well as for youth to be given a chance (ignoring the ages of Ngog, Lucas and Insua) and for the club to sign David Silva and David Villa (easy with a budget of nothing!).
“GREAT NEWS WELCOME IN ROY, PLEASE PLAY NICE ATTACKING BRAND OF FOOTBALL AND BRING THROUGH PACHECO,AMOO,KELLY,SHELVEY. KEEP THE BIG NAMES AND BUY SOME CLASS WINGERS PLEASE” wrote the retard. “ps nemeth must get a chance as well, good striker IN ROY WE TRUST”
Clearly it’s unreasonable to expect that a moron who can’t even use basic punctuation correctly, let alone understand what the ‘Caps Lock’ key is for, to understand that keeping the ‘big names’ and buying ‘some class wingers’ is going to be nigh-on impossible under the current regime. As for bringing through Pacheco, Amoo, Kelly, Shelvey and also giving a chance to Nemeth (who will incidentally be on loan in Greece again), how will the ‘big names’ feel when they are left out of the side in favour of kids and how exactly can having such an inexperienced line up benefit the team?
Fucking muppet.
I predict that Hodgson will become the first Liverpool manager since Phil Taylor to win nothing during his tenure which I predict will be short-lived. I’m not wishing him to fail. I simply don’t think there has been a Liverpool manager appointed since Shankly who has had the odds stacked against him to such an extent and been less equipped to overcome those odds.
He might surprise us with a plucky domestic cup win but the big prizes are well out of our reach and that is such a depressing reality.
Some fans would criticise me for my negativity but I consider it to be realism rather than negativity. I hear the calls for fans to get behind the new manager but I ask, what does that mean?
Will I wish the manager to fail? No. I would always want the team to be successful.
Will I be critical of the manager? Only constructively when warranted but always with a focus on the wider picture and never for circumstances beyond his control.
Will I sing his name on the Kop? That’s an easy one. I won’t be on the Kop or at any games until the current owners have left the club.
Will I take pride in him and sing his praises to other fans or rival supporters? I suppose that depends on how he performs. Again, I will always try to be fair and objective in appraising him.
Will I call for his removal? Only after the removal of the Americans if I believe he is underperforming against realistic expectations.
In many respects, I am probably the ideal LFC supporter for Roy as my expectations are so low, he is more likely to exceed them than fail in my eyes. I just think it’s a sad, sad day that Liverpool Football Club have confirmed with this appointment that they no longer aspire to be the best.
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Sunday, 13 June 2010
Come in number 23, your time is up!
It seems slightly redundant to be speculating about next season given we have a board steering us towards relegation, no manager and are likely to lose around half of our first team regulars.
However, Jamie Carragher’s appearance in England’s embarrassing World Cup draw against the USA has prompted me to question what his role should be next season.
What I’m writing here is based on the current situation and my views and assessment of Carra’s importance to us may well change depending on the ins and outs of the summer’s transfer window.
If the truth be told, I’m a bit annoyed about Carra even being in the England squad. I admired him for retiring from international football and for stating that international honours mean less to him that honours with Liverpool FC. Now it’s as if he’s saying: “Fuck it, I won’t win anything with LFC so I might as well try with England.” He could have taken a longer summer break to enhance his chances of doing well with Liverpool next season but instead he is risking injury and fatigue for the 3 Lions who coped fine without him over the last two seasons.
Irrespective of who he is and who he plays for domestically, I think there’s something wrong with a player making himself unavailable for the entire qualifying campaign but then going to the tournament. Other defenders played a part in getting England to South Africa and should be there ahead of Carragher irrespective of whether he possesses greater ability or experience than them.
The main issue I have with him being there is that these days he is well past his best. At his peak, Carra was genuinely one of the best defenders in the world. Though I’ve always thought Rio Ferdinand was a flash prick and John Terry a cheating cunt, they were rightly ahead of Carragher in the England pecking order because of their superior passing skills and goal threat even if Carra was arguably better defensively than either (certainly than Rio). Carra’s issue was that under Steve McClaren, he wasn’t even third choice with the likes of Ledley King and even Wes fucking Brown preferred to him in the absence of the first choice centre-back pairing. Then there was a strong case for playing Carra and certainly for having him in the squad.
However, after three years of self-imposed international exile, Carra is noticeably a player in decline. To use the old cliché, “his legs have gone”. Not that Carra was ever the quickest of players, he no longer has enough recovery pace to compete against the speed merchants in the top teams. After a lousy start to the 2009-10 season, Carra improved but not to the levels we have seen from him in recent years. Meanwhile, his passing and positioning have become ever more negative which spreads like a cancer through the rest of the team.
As last season ebbed away miserably, I was looking forward to a summer of not seeing Carragher kill off yet another potential attacking move by putting his foot on the ball and knocking it sideways or back to his keeper from the half way line. Thanks to one Fabio Capello, the nightmare continued once Carra was brought on against the USA.
In the same game, Carra’s lack of pace was worryingly exposed on a few occasions. First he was booked for hauling back Findlay as the USA player was about to leave him for dead and within 5 minutes later Altidore (of Hull City!) eased past him and got through on goal. Had he not already been booked, Carra would probably have tugged him back and conceded the free-kick but knowing he would have been sent off, he had to gamble on Robert Green preventing the US taking the lead. Later on, Carra got away with what appeared to be a body-check on Findlay when the US player would have been through on goal. All in all, he was off the pace, struggling and lucky to stay on the pitch.
Even if this was simply a poor performance by a player struggling with fatigue after a demanding season or perhaps struggling to adapt to the altitude or different tempo of international football, the bottom line is that at the age of 32, Carra is not going to get any better and won’t recapture the form of his peak years. It’s time to give the partnership of Agger and Skrtel and prolonged run in the Liverpool team. They are the future and that is what Liverpool must look to now.
I’ve previously questioned whether Carra could become a negative presence in the dressing room if relegated to the role of first team back up. I am certain that at Manchester United or Chelsea such a player and personality would be moved on at this stage of his career. However, with little or no money to spend and such upheaval to the current squad likely, keeping Carra might be necessary. After all, who could be bought who would provide better back up for central defence and either full-back position? As long as he supports Agger and Skrtel, Carra could end his Liverpool career in the same way that Sami Hyypia did providing quality back up, competition and not letting anyone down when called upon.
Just cut out the bloody back passes!
However, Jamie Carragher’s appearance in England’s embarrassing World Cup draw against the USA has prompted me to question what his role should be next season.
What I’m writing here is based on the current situation and my views and assessment of Carra’s importance to us may well change depending on the ins and outs of the summer’s transfer window.
If the truth be told, I’m a bit annoyed about Carra even being in the England squad. I admired him for retiring from international football and for stating that international honours mean less to him that honours with Liverpool FC. Now it’s as if he’s saying: “Fuck it, I won’t win anything with LFC so I might as well try with England.” He could have taken a longer summer break to enhance his chances of doing well with Liverpool next season but instead he is risking injury and fatigue for the 3 Lions who coped fine without him over the last two seasons.
Irrespective of who he is and who he plays for domestically, I think there’s something wrong with a player making himself unavailable for the entire qualifying campaign but then going to the tournament. Other defenders played a part in getting England to South Africa and should be there ahead of Carragher irrespective of whether he possesses greater ability or experience than them.
The main issue I have with him being there is that these days he is well past his best. At his peak, Carra was genuinely one of the best defenders in the world. Though I’ve always thought Rio Ferdinand was a flash prick and John Terry a cheating cunt, they were rightly ahead of Carragher in the England pecking order because of their superior passing skills and goal threat even if Carra was arguably better defensively than either (certainly than Rio). Carra’s issue was that under Steve McClaren, he wasn’t even third choice with the likes of Ledley King and even Wes fucking Brown preferred to him in the absence of the first choice centre-back pairing. Then there was a strong case for playing Carra and certainly for having him in the squad.
However, after three years of self-imposed international exile, Carra is noticeably a player in decline. To use the old cliché, “his legs have gone”. Not that Carra was ever the quickest of players, he no longer has enough recovery pace to compete against the speed merchants in the top teams. After a lousy start to the 2009-10 season, Carra improved but not to the levels we have seen from him in recent years. Meanwhile, his passing and positioning have become ever more negative which spreads like a cancer through the rest of the team.
As last season ebbed away miserably, I was looking forward to a summer of not seeing Carragher kill off yet another potential attacking move by putting his foot on the ball and knocking it sideways or back to his keeper from the half way line. Thanks to one Fabio Capello, the nightmare continued once Carra was brought on against the USA.
In the same game, Carra’s lack of pace was worryingly exposed on a few occasions. First he was booked for hauling back Findlay as the USA player was about to leave him for dead and within 5 minutes later Altidore (of Hull City!) eased past him and got through on goal. Had he not already been booked, Carra would probably have tugged him back and conceded the free-kick but knowing he would have been sent off, he had to gamble on Robert Green preventing the US taking the lead. Later on, Carra got away with what appeared to be a body-check on Findlay when the US player would have been through on goal. All in all, he was off the pace, struggling and lucky to stay on the pitch.
Even if this was simply a poor performance by a player struggling with fatigue after a demanding season or perhaps struggling to adapt to the altitude or different tempo of international football, the bottom line is that at the age of 32, Carra is not going to get any better and won’t recapture the form of his peak years. It’s time to give the partnership of Agger and Skrtel and prolonged run in the Liverpool team. They are the future and that is what Liverpool must look to now.
I’ve previously questioned whether Carra could become a negative presence in the dressing room if relegated to the role of first team back up. I am certain that at Manchester United or Chelsea such a player and personality would be moved on at this stage of his career. However, with little or no money to spend and such upheaval to the current squad likely, keeping Carra might be necessary. After all, who could be bought who would provide better back up for central defence and either full-back position? As long as he supports Agger and Skrtel, Carra could end his Liverpool career in the same way that Sami Hyypia did providing quality back up, competition and not letting anyone down when called upon.
Just cut out the bloody back passes!
Saturday, 5 June 2010
Wanted : A Mid-field
“Thanks for everything Rafa but any chance you can take Lucas with you? Lol”
This is the sort of moronic comment I keep seeing posted on facebook and various internet forums. I won’t get into yet another defence of Lucas whom I felt was the club’s outfield player of the season. Instead I will point out that these idiots had better start cherishing Lucas given that the Brazilian is one of few midfielders you can virtually guarantee will be at the club next season.
It’s actually frightening when you look at just how many midfielders we have with question marks hanging over their futures this summer. Had Rafa not been martyred, it is certain that Riera and Babel would have been offloaded this summer. Now one or both might just be given a reprieve by the new manager but equally one or both could be sold to generate transfer funds. Benayoun has been busy engineering himself a move away from the club and his departure looks certain. Mascherano is widely expected to depart. Gerrard is rated as 50/50 to be plying his trade at Real Madrid next season. Youngsters like Plessis and El Zhar have added little or nothing to the first team in the past two seasons and could be sold for a pittance or kept with minimal impact on next season.
This is the sort of moronic comment I keep seeing posted on facebook and various internet forums. I won’t get into yet another defence of Lucas whom I felt was the club’s outfield player of the season. Instead I will point out that these idiots had better start cherishing Lucas given that the Brazilian is one of few midfielders you can virtually guarantee will be at the club next season.
It’s actually frightening when you look at just how many midfielders we have with question marks hanging over their futures this summer. Had Rafa not been martyred, it is certain that Riera and Babel would have been offloaded this summer. Now one or both might just be given a reprieve by the new manager but equally one or both could be sold to generate transfer funds. Benayoun has been busy engineering himself a move away from the club and his departure looks certain. Mascherano is widely expected to depart. Gerrard is rated as 50/50 to be plying his trade at Real Madrid next season. Youngsters like Plessis and El Zhar have added little or nothing to the first team in the past two seasons and could be sold for a pittance or kept with minimal impact on next season.
Then there is Alberto Aquilani... Will the new man give him a chance in the first XI next season? Is he truly a mid-fielder anyway or is he, as I suspect, a player who performs best in "the hole" behind the striker? If the club has a chance to recoup most of its significant outlay on him, wouldn't they be more likely to take the money than gamble on a player who has yet to convince in terms of his ability to adapt to the Premiership and crucially to stay fit.
That leaves Lucas plus Maxi Rodriguez, who only recently signed for us, Dirk Kuyt and youngsters Dani Pacheco and Jay Spearing. Who knows if the new boss with use Kuyt in midfield or even if he would consider cashing in on a player who has turned 30 and visibly ran out of steam at times last season.
Suddenly, Lucas looks like an invaluably member of the squad and arguably our best midfield player. Certainly with Mascherano going, Lucas will be the preferred defensive midfield player in the new-look Reds midfield.
“Thanks for everything Rafa but can you take these dickhead so-called fans with you? Not laughing.”
Friday, 4 June 2010
Benitez's Sacking was Inevitable
The more I think about it, the more Rafa Benitez’s sacking was inevitable.
At the heart of it all, Rafa wanted to build a successful football team that could challenge for and win major honours season after season and he wanted the owners and the board to give him the support he needed to achieve that. When that support was denied, Rafa fought to get it, often very publically.
Ultimately, and largely as a consequence of that public fighting, Rafa made too many enemies. This season, we have seen journalists, pundits, Sports TV presenters, ex-players, current players, rival managers and rival supporters all queuing up to stick the knife in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Of key significance, Rafa made enemies of the club’s owners and board members – a suicidal mistake – and even of sections (albeit the dim-witted sections) of Liverpool’s supporters.
We all feel dissatisfaction (to put it mildly) with the Americans and the likes of Parry and Purslow (snake) and can completely empathise with Rafa’s frustrations with them. That said, whatever the circumstances, it is ill-advised for an employee to be so confrontational with his employers.
Had he not broken the viscard that Liverpool FC was a well-run and upwardly mobile club, fans would have expected him to sign top quality players and achieve the club’s targets. When he inevitably failed to meet those expectations, he would have become the target for all the flak (instead of just a lot of it). The likelihood is, he would have been sacked sooner based on results being below fans’ expectations.
By lifting the lid on the true state of affairs behind the scenes, Rafa ensured he was not universally blamed for failings that were outside of his control but in doing so he also instigated a painful three year period in which the club’s dirty linen was humiliatingly washed in public for all to see and effectively signed his own death warrant.
Allardyce, Mourinho, Ferguson, Hicks, Gillett, Parry and Purslow. All of them are cunts. All of them are vile excuses for human beings. All of them were fierce opponents in Rafa’s battles. Throw in his fall outs and rows with Steve Heighway, Paco Ayestaran, Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Robbie Keane, Albert Riera, Ryan Babel and Yossi Benayoun and ultimately there was just too much conflict.
So did Rafa make the right decision speaking out against the board/owners? Ultimately it probably wouldn’t have made a difference. Sooner or later, fans would have twigged that the new stadium wasn’t being built as promised and when the club’s accounts were published the lie about loading the club with debt would have been exposed. The anti-Hicks & Gillett supporters groups would still have been formed and Rafa’s replacement would have been fully aware of the issues with the owners, as would the supporters who would have adjusted their expectations accordingly.
The sole crumb of comfort I can take from Rafa’s sacking is that I believe that even had he stayed on as manager next season, we would have endured another difficult season and certainly could have aimed no higher than a top four finish and a decent cup run. Under a new boss, those aspirations will remain the same and certainly will climb no higher until the Yanks have sold the club and (God willing) we have owners with the ability and will to pump cash into the club.
It is a sorry end to the reign of a fine manager but sadly it was always going to end like this.
At the heart of it all, Rafa wanted to build a successful football team that could challenge for and win major honours season after season and he wanted the owners and the board to give him the support he needed to achieve that. When that support was denied, Rafa fought to get it, often very publically.
Ultimately, and largely as a consequence of that public fighting, Rafa made too many enemies. This season, we have seen journalists, pundits, Sports TV presenters, ex-players, current players, rival managers and rival supporters all queuing up to stick the knife in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Of key significance, Rafa made enemies of the club’s owners and board members – a suicidal mistake – and even of sections (albeit the dim-witted sections) of Liverpool’s supporters.
We all feel dissatisfaction (to put it mildly) with the Americans and the likes of Parry and Purslow (snake) and can completely empathise with Rafa’s frustrations with them. That said, whatever the circumstances, it is ill-advised for an employee to be so confrontational with his employers.
Had he not broken the viscard that Liverpool FC was a well-run and upwardly mobile club, fans would have expected him to sign top quality players and achieve the club’s targets. When he inevitably failed to meet those expectations, he would have become the target for all the flak (instead of just a lot of it). The likelihood is, he would have been sacked sooner based on results being below fans’ expectations.
By lifting the lid on the true state of affairs behind the scenes, Rafa ensured he was not universally blamed for failings that were outside of his control but in doing so he also instigated a painful three year period in which the club’s dirty linen was humiliatingly washed in public for all to see and effectively signed his own death warrant.
Allardyce, Mourinho, Ferguson, Hicks, Gillett, Parry and Purslow. All of them are cunts. All of them are vile excuses for human beings. All of them were fierce opponents in Rafa’s battles. Throw in his fall outs and rows with Steve Heighway, Paco Ayestaran, Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Robbie Keane, Albert Riera, Ryan Babel and Yossi Benayoun and ultimately there was just too much conflict.
So did Rafa make the right decision speaking out against the board/owners? Ultimately it probably wouldn’t have made a difference. Sooner or later, fans would have twigged that the new stadium wasn’t being built as promised and when the club’s accounts were published the lie about loading the club with debt would have been exposed. The anti-Hicks & Gillett supporters groups would still have been formed and Rafa’s replacement would have been fully aware of the issues with the owners, as would the supporters who would have adjusted their expectations accordingly.
The sole crumb of comfort I can take from Rafa’s sacking is that I believe that even had he stayed on as manager next season, we would have endured another difficult season and certainly could have aimed no higher than a top four finish and a decent cup run. Under a new boss, those aspirations will remain the same and certainly will climb no higher until the Yanks have sold the club and (God willing) we have owners with the ability and will to pump cash into the club.
It is a sorry end to the reign of a fine manager but sadly it was always going to end like this.
Thursday, 3 June 2010
Total disillusionment
I've just posted the following on The Tomkins Times website as the media report on Rafa's pending removal as Liverpool manager:
I do empathise with those on here who feel like throwing in the towel as Liverpool supporters. Of course, it’s impossible to do but sometimes it would be so much easier if it were possible to just walk away. For a true Liverpool fanatic, the attachment to the club is always there. It is part of you and can never be out of your thoughts.
Personally I feel so disillusioned, not just with the way the Yanks have undermined and disgraced our club but also with the significant number of so-called Liverpool fans who have actually compounded the situation by lapping up the media bullshit and criticising the manager without considering the full facts. These are ‘fans’ from all generations and from all sorts of different backgrounds. In their simplistic views, failure of the team equals failure by the manager and the simple remedy is to remove the manager. When the next manager comes in and can’t do any better because he is beset by the same problems behind the scenes, those fans will call for his head as well. It’s not just the morons who bombard the internet forums with their extreme views and dubiously labelled ‘facts’ in barely legible English but also intelligent people who simply are influenced to easily and who don’t care enough to check the facts and make informed opinions of their own.
We Liverpool fans want to believe our club is special and unique but actually our support has dumbed down so much that we are no different to Spurs fans or Newcastle fans. If we can’t finish above a team that has spent over £200m net in the last two transfer windows while we have invested nothing and actually made a net profit during the same period, blame the manager! If success isn’t instant or continuous, sack the manager!
I feel like everything that was once great, unique and special about our club has drained away and all the remains is a very small pool of knowledgeable true supporters who are totally disaffected by the way our club is being run.
I will always want the team to do well on the pitch but I don’t want to be associated with the current owners, the current board or the vast majority of idiots calling themselves Liverpool fans.
I just long for the return of the values that Shankly first instilled in this club and for Liverpool FC to be a club I can believe in and be proud of.
I do empathise with those on here who feel like throwing in the towel as Liverpool supporters. Of course, it’s impossible to do but sometimes it would be so much easier if it were possible to just walk away. For a true Liverpool fanatic, the attachment to the club is always there. It is part of you and can never be out of your thoughts.
Personally I feel so disillusioned, not just with the way the Yanks have undermined and disgraced our club but also with the significant number of so-called Liverpool fans who have actually compounded the situation by lapping up the media bullshit and criticising the manager without considering the full facts. These are ‘fans’ from all generations and from all sorts of different backgrounds. In their simplistic views, failure of the team equals failure by the manager and the simple remedy is to remove the manager. When the next manager comes in and can’t do any better because he is beset by the same problems behind the scenes, those fans will call for his head as well. It’s not just the morons who bombard the internet forums with their extreme views and dubiously labelled ‘facts’ in barely legible English but also intelligent people who simply are influenced to easily and who don’t care enough to check the facts and make informed opinions of their own.
We Liverpool fans want to believe our club is special and unique but actually our support has dumbed down so much that we are no different to Spurs fans or Newcastle fans. If we can’t finish above a team that has spent over £200m net in the last two transfer windows while we have invested nothing and actually made a net profit during the same period, blame the manager! If success isn’t instant or continuous, sack the manager!
I feel like everything that was once great, unique and special about our club has drained away and all the remains is a very small pool of knowledgeable true supporters who are totally disaffected by the way our club is being run.
I will always want the team to do well on the pitch but I don’t want to be associated with the current owners, the current board or the vast majority of idiots calling themselves Liverpool fans.
I just long for the return of the values that Shankly first instilled in this club and for Liverpool FC to be a club I can believe in and be proud of.
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