So… After the last few years of miraculous highs (Istanbul) and terrible lows (Yank
).. We are at a crossroads at our famous old club. This I think is one of the most important and pivotal periods in the History of Liverpool Football Club. So, I don’t know if this would be seen as a stupid thing, or just something interesting to all comment on, but I thought I would write a few lines about how the last ten years or so has made me feel as we have moved forward, or backward.It would seem to me that the English game has changed more in the last ten years than it has in the last 100. As a club we were left behind, and set adrift from the elite if English and European football; enjoying only the odd moment of rapture and euphoria that we had been used to having all of the time. Why did this happen? Some would blame the legacy of Graham Souness, with his wholesale change of the fundamental things that once made us great. Out went the boot room, and in came a variety of second rate players designed to change the wonderful flowing and skilful football we were famous for. The rot really did start here I suppose as the club began to lose its identity.
Roy Evans. Legend still in my eyes who tried to reinstall the purity of the football we played. He went too far the other way and we had the Spice Boys era. This was a talented squad of players which was good enough to win things on a regular basis, but all too often we were out fought and kicked off the pitch. Such a shame that wonderful players like Macca, Fowler and Redknap all failed to win a title. They could and should have but the mix was just never quite right.
Gerrard Houllier.. I thought he was the one to bring us back to glory. That treble will remain one of the greatest accomplishments of Liverpool Football club. But too many things were wrong as well. Players such as Fowler and Danny Murphy were sold. Others such as El Hadj Diouf were purchased along with Cisse.. Game but never good enough. I always felt Gerrard never quite had enough faith in the team to really let them express themselves. The emergence of Carra and Stevie were rare highlights as we became predictable and one dimensional. He left the club in a worse state than he found it.
Rafa Benitez. Won us the Cl and got us to another final. Challenged for the title for a season but we never really had the depth to sustain it all. In the background was the takeover and a temporary wave of expectation as we signed Fernando Torres. It really looked as if Hicks and Gillett were going to invest and take us places. Such a shame it all turned sour. I think Benitez lost the dressing room a season or so before the end and the outside pressures were just too much. He stayed too long and it cost us. I will always love the man for Istanbul, but will never forget his arrogance and stubbornness.
Roy - Least said the better I think. The mood is depressing enough. A nice man and a good manger, but he was never right for this club.
All through the managers that have come and gone the club has stood still. The English game evolved around us and left us behind. The traditions of the club were lost and forgotten by those in charge of the club to the dismay of the fans who cried out for the expansive and wonderful football we were used to seeing. There was no way of turning back the clock.. We needed money and investment but instead in came an asset stripping pair of businessmen who could not care less about the history and tradition of the club, or the millions of Liverpool fans around the world. They treated the city and the club with utter contempt.
Then in came the new owners. On a crest of a wave they made an offer and the board grew some balls and won the right to sell the club in court. The debt was paid off and the club born again. We are in a way a whole new club… at a crossroads and ot looks as if we are going the right way.
What we now have is the very soul of Liverpool Football club back. Kenny Dalglish is once again our manager and whatever the opposition we are looking to play good attractive and attacking football. And now we are starting to grow again.. The approach of the new board is wonderful. They are open and honest with the fans, they tell us what they plan for the club and want to know what we think about it. And most of all they are going to build for the future, and are willing to invest in the very best to ensure that we not only challenge for the title next year, but will every year for the next ten years. Amazing.
What a roller coaster it has all been. We stand now as a club still alive and still fighting. We have not lost our history or traditions or class. Now we are going to see some wonderful things and players wanting to come here and play in a red shirt. Back to basics, and back to success and winning titles, at least I think so.
But.. A question. Is the old Liverpool way that saw us dominate European football for a generation going to work now all those years later. Is our integrity and respect for others going to win through against the tapping up culture of the modern game? I think so. I know so in fact. You only have to listen to the King talking to the media to see what is going to happen. He will attract the very best players here, and in time we will be at the top of the world once again.
Will we win the league next year? I don’t know, I don’t think we will actually and to be honest I could not give a toss. We are seeing the start of a revolution and I am loving every second, already my thinking has changed and the pride in the lads as they cross that white line for every game is swelling in me again. It never died in me, but had faded… I now see LFC as the club I fell in love with totally 37 years ago and that is plenty enough for me for now…
Awesome!!!!!
