heimdall » Tue Mar 27, 2012 4:35 pm wrote:Homebooby » Tue Mar 27, 2012 1:38 pm wrote:I am tired of this board in general. Every time I check in it's the same discussion with few people seeming to remember the whole thing almost disintegrated less than 2 yrs ago. I will agree that Rafa did some great things and I liked him a lot, but H&G reaped a lot of damage on the club and I am sure we will still be feeling the repercussions for years to come. The most significant being that the media smelled a killing of the pack leader and have refused to let up. We haven't made things easy for ourselves this season and I would agree that partially we could have made it easier on ourselves, but I also quite like the fact the Kenny throws his toys out of the pram and challenges the media....how many years did Fergie refuse to do interviews? A sure sign that he was losing the plot and incapable of operating successfully in today's media savvy world if ever I saw it.
Coming back to the team, the turning point we can all agree on was losing Alonso and that is when the rot really set in with the playing quality. Torres started to go downhill from then on in and our already heavy dependance on Stevie increased. I still see a few years in him yet, but our continued dependance on him has been exposed in some ways this season as we have been toothless in front of goal. That said, the fact that we were within a shout of a CL spot until Feb having missed him, Suarez and Lucas for significant points of the season points to signs of hope. Noone disagrees that we are missing quality and we'll only see in the summer if we'll get to bring some in or not. Imagine Arsenal without Van Persie....where would they be? It can be the difference between the mid=table and a top 4 spot.
If the money comes flowing and we can buy, you can expect the expectation from the owners to be high and they are looking to build on the success this year, if not, then you can guarantee that we'll be seeing a slow build progression over several years as we edge out the old faithfuls from the team and build a new squad for the future. I think personally a lot rides on the FA cup. I think most managers are challenged with a prove what you can do before we spunk a load more up money approach from their owners. I don't think that they expected anything this year at all as we were in such dire straits, even maintaining the same course as the end of last year would have been ok while they sorted other things out like the stadium and contract renegotiations etc. The league cup was an added bonus. If we even make it to Wembley again, I think that raises the bar. It puts additional pressure on the owners to support the manager and bring the quality in. Anything less will seem like a lack of ambition for a team and manager that is exceeding expectations, especially under an significant pressures.
As frustrating a season as it has been in some spaces, I for one have enjoyed the football we have played (when we HAVE played) much more than I have in as many years as I can remember. To see us moving forward with the ball and attacking as opposed to slow build up, side to side play, look at the goal then pass back to the keeper which has been the biggest disease in the premiership for the last 10 yrs is an absolute pressure. With the advent of championship promoted teams having success doing exactly that, I suspect that we will move back towards 'old school and outdated methods' in the future and perhaps Kenny is the ideal person to do that. Who knows.
At the end of it all, it seems like now we actually have lost the poor owners, be it Parry or H&G and arguably the dodgy manager, we actually don't have anything to talk about. Like in the real world, everyone needs a good war to get behind and if we've can't find one, we'll manufacture the f*ck out of one.
In sum, I don't think anyone can really find fault with the owners and anyone who considers finding fault with Kenny who is the closest thing we have to royalty at the club needs their head seeing too.
IF we haven't got anything positive to say, then we should say nothing at all. The ongoing debate is NOT constructive and is adding ZERO value to the forward progression of the club.
Erm sorry but are actually satisfied with our current league position and run of results, are you saying that we need to spend even more money on players like Henderson, Downing and Carroll, If so then I think it's you that needs your head checked. Do you have confidence that Comolli and kenny will make good signings this summer, even after Comolli came out and said there would not be many transfers this summer?
Am I satisfied with the results of late, no not at all. Have I been satisfied with the results of the past 20 years...not particularly. The reality is we have been under-performing for years and that has slowly eroded away everything that was great about the club when it was at its highest. Am I happy that that magic potentially isn't lost forever and has a chance of finding its' way back into the club to continue to be passed on by generations.....absolutely.
Regarding Kenny and Comolli, I haven't the faintest idea what will happen in the future and I have no idea how the relationship & strategy for the club has developed over the last season. Up until then, they basically had 4 months to figure things out and get active in the market. Additionally, none of us know whether either of them are given free reign to pull in whoever they like, or whether they are restricted due to the policies of the owners....we just don't know and time will only tell.
Am I happy that we are still mid-table by the end of the season having not seen our star player of the last 10 years for pretty much the last 12 months.....yes I am. I am also pleased that the club has repaid the loyalty Stevie showed us over the years by standing by him and allowing him a chance of full recovery rather than the continued rape that seems to have ravaged him over the last few years.
Am I happy that we have seen a new central defender partnership come to the fore that was not evident before and the gentle removal of Jamie to the sidelines with quite some dignity...yes, he deserves nothing more
Am I happy that Pepe is still around.....absolutely
Am I happy that we have managed to ride some significant injuries and bans over the course of the season and remain there or thereabouts....absolutely.
Did I enjoy the cup win.....I certainly did
Do I like the fact that we are in another cup semi-final with another shot at Wembley - I certainly do. I remember being out of most cups by November and out of contention for the league before the Christmas period was through...so yes, I consider this a little sign of a silver lining.
Is the job done.....f*ck no.....but no one on this board is arguing that point. We are trying to reclaim a sense of balance, logic, common sense and realism amongst the supporting group. Of course we need to be better and I think most would agree on the board that if we had converted half the shots on goal that we had this season we'd be challenging at the very least for a top 4 position. That is the margin that we are talking about, it's not that great.
Had we scored those goals and were challenging higher up the table, would that change my opinion.....absolutely not. The point made about the league table is moot in my opinion. Even if we were 2nd or 3rd we wouldn't be getting too excited. Most people want to see the type of football that we fell in love with, we want to see the golden quality days revisited and we are a long way away from that, but we are closer to it than we were 12 months ago. I would be very surprised if we don't make significant steps that way again the next 12 months.
I personally don't believe that a change in the manager will achieve this. I think a change is something that we can ill afford at the moment. It would serve only to destabilize the whole club again with no guarantee of any further success. We need to keep our heads down for a couple of seasons and start cranking it out. Fans need to unite and stay behind the club that we all feel strongly about and urge it to be great again. We have no divine right to a premier league title or any other at that matter. If the experiences and fall from grace that we have witnessed have not hammered that home to us then nothing will I guess.
I don't want to buy my way to a championship like Man City or Chelsea. I don't want an owner that could drop us at any moment. I don't want a squad full of ***** either. I want a team that I feel is worthy, with players I like, who would hopefully be the same type of hero for kids today as Ian Rush was for me, I want to play a style of football that is worthy of the LFC brand and I want the name LFC to strike the same fear of god into our opponents as it once did. In my humble opinion, that all takes time, but for the first time in almost 20 years, my instinct tells me the foundation is finally being laid again for the opportunity to allow that to happen. We shouldn't f*ck with it, just let it be and see what it grows into.
Onwards
