Liverpool FC Forum

by **big al** » Mon Jan 05, 2004 4:14 pm

Are we in trouble. One small observation I'd like to put to you all is that we are in sh##e up to our necks.

Houlier will leave in the Summer NO DOUBT but we will have lost the two players keeping us out of the relegation battle Gerrard and Owen. If they go we are in deep deep trouble.

The new manager will have no money to buy the half dozen players needed to move the team forward. With the current squad minus Stephen and Micheal we'll be in a fight to staive off relegation. Would you take on such a job. No Neither will Martin O'Neill. The only way he'll take the job is if the new stadium is put on hold and the funds already set aside are diverted to buying players. The board will have no option because in the current economic climate in Liverpool building a bigger ground will be bloody pointless if no one comes to watch them and believe me they won't. Why?

Liverpool already rely too much and punters like me making the twice yearly track to Anfield. The city of liverpool has a population at roughly 450,000 people and that's not enough to sustain two premeirship sides. Blow ins like me are therefore a necessity, rather than a bonus as we were in the past.

Rick Parry and the Board are focused on attracting more and more fans from all over the UK, Europe and the world. But many of these fans come to see success, not failure. It cost's upwards of £400 pounds for me to go across to Liverpool for a game, will I pay it if we are struggling at the foot of the table. Truthfully no. Oh I'd probably find the cash for cup games and I still buy the top and wear the tee-shirt. But my revenue and that of thousands of others would be gone.

Liverpool could be like many of the clubs in similar size towns across England, The die hards will be there alright and God Bless them, but too many fans will not spend their hard earned cash on a also ran team. FACT A team gets relegated its spectators go down.

Man U are a good example of this, They have always had fans but a good deal of them hid until the mid 80s and everyone knows that Old trafford is now full of Blow ins all seeking a taste of success. Make football a substitute for religion and the weekly redemption is what's often sought.

In the scheme of football today that's how to survive. Big clubs no longer belong to the people of the city were they're based. They belong on a global level. So unless the board at Liverpool are thinking of becoming like an Americam Football Franchise IE take where the money is. We could be in big trouble.

There Board are as a consquence of all these economics in a catch 22 situation. Sack Houlier we could still not get into Europe, Keep him, we might. Sack Houlier when he might turn it around. Maybe they know that O'Neill, Strachan and any other manager would certainly think twice before committing to what could be an impossible situation. The board play a waiting game. Its probably the biggest poker hand David Moores has had to play but he's made the mistake last summer by not saying goodbye to Houlier then. Why? Because Mr Moores has no option! He knows Houlier has to go but they can't let him go now, the future of a fallen giant therefore rests in the hands of a mad, bad and very sad French man. God help us all!

by **RedSi** » Mon Jan 05, 2004 4:17 pm

Regrettably spot on Big Al, spot on......

by **supersub** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 12:11 am

I can understand you're feelings big al,but I don't think the fans will dissappear the way you believe they will.Liverpool have a huge following on the wirral,and then further on towards Chester into North Wales with easy access via motorway to the ground.These fans will still make the trek because it's a way of life,in fact I think the stadium should be bigger with the prices capped to make sure the bloody thing is full every game.
There is no way the club would put a hold on building the new stadium,a new manager is more likely and that will boost the crowd,and the players no doubt.

by **jonnymac1979** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 12:35 am

I'm on the waiting list for a season ticket, and I know i'll wait years for it, relegation or otherwise. Plus, i'll probably move down south in about six months time, and i'd still make the journey north. The fans wont desert the club, but I agree relegation is a possibility without Owen and Gerrard. Wait until the end of the season, we all know that things can turn around in football over the space of a game or two. The end of the season is a long way off yet. :;):

by **115-1073096938** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 2:19 am

cr#p!!! end of comment.

by **big al** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 1:47 pm

I'm not saying the local fans will leave liverpool I'm talking about those who make the journey to Anfield from further away. I said that the liverpool Faithful will stay. Trouble is that in order to expand liverpool need a bigger stadium there are currently enough local or regional supporters to almost (and it is almost supersub, rarely completely, just look at the facts) fill the ground. To get to the next level as say a team like Glasgow Celtic you need to rely heavily on people from much further away.

Johnnymac you recon that you'll travel from the south each week, Well fair play to you mate. My veiw is that lots of people won't.

Here's my point. To maintain Liverpool's position as a elite club in football the need to increase their revenue.

Easiest way is to increase paying spectators. Increased revenue equates to being able not only to buy top flight footballers but to pay the wages many of them now demand. Man U have this financial power and thats why they're proving so difficult to get on par with.

Owen and Gerrard are what's keeping liverpool away from the lower regions of the league. Lose them and we become a team that lacks drive committment, skill and ability to win against the odds. Owen has too long been a match winner on his own.

Bill Shankly sold 26 players in his first season at Anfield we are not yet in those proportions but ok clever Stu_the _red who else can win football games for Liverpool. Who else is truly world class in the team?

Back to my point, There is no rational reason to raise capacity if you cannot guarantee utlisiation of all the seats. It will become like many of the house's that now lie empty and direlict around the streets of Liverpool. Its alright spectulating on a booming market what happens when what is being offered is not what people want. I know there are thousands of fans that wild horses and playing in the conference would'nt drag from Anfield but football sadly doesent belong to them any more. It belongs to millions who sit on the ***** at home watching on Tv or those corporate consumers who watch from the corporate boxes. They guide the future of football, Ordinary fans have no power except whilst giving there veiws in forums like this.

At the AGM last night the money men finally made the veiws heard. Yes they are fans but they are also bussiness men they know only to well that catch 22 situation. they just have to look to London and Spurs to see what can happen to a gaint of football. Worse still look north east at Leeds and you'll understand that I'm talking about. Finance!

Stu_the _red thanks once again for eloqent and intellectual rebuff of my veiws I'm glad to insure your not the only one in this forum talking cr#p.

by **redandblue** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 4:54 pm

We won't get relegated. But we are in real danger of ending up like Everton. Short of money, short of good players and unable to attract the best talent.

The Houllier years have represented a huge lost opportunity........we have fallen away from the top two, now three, badly. I think that Al has got it absolutely right.

I said in a previous posting that I didn't believe that O'Neill would leave Celtic for us because of the state we are in. I got a bit of a pasting from several of the guys here, but my point was that he may be on a hiding to nothing in coming to Anfield. Owen will almost certainly go, Gerrard may go. And then what. He would have a massive rebuilding job on his hands. On the other hand, he may be getting fed up playing Kilmarnock and Partick Thistle four times a year.

by **coops** » Tue Jan 06, 2004 10:00 pm

big al wrote:Liverpool already rely too much and punters like me making the twice yearly track to Anfield. The city of liverpool has a population at roughly 450,000 people and that's not enough to sustain two premeirship sides. Blow ins like me are therefore a necessity, rather than a bonus as we were in the past.

I must disagree Al. Liverpool Football club have a MASSIVE following in Liverpool. The stadium could be filled twice over with scousers. The waiting list for a season ticket is 5 years minimum at the moment. Anfield is sold out every week. I don't believe we are desperate for punters.

Nevertheless I think a fan is a fan, whether he is a scouser or not, so long as his allegiance remains and doesn't switch when we are going through hard times.

by **jonnymac1979** » Wed Jan 07, 2004 2:12 pm

stu_the_red wrote:cr#p!!! end of comment.

...and what a comment, "Shakespeare". That told me!!!

What's your opinion then? You don't just type "cr#p" and not back it up. You're the plumbag who got threw off the official site aren't you? I'm not surprised, mate.

by **big al** » Wed Jan 07, 2004 7:52 pm

Coop Its not just the fans its as supersub said there appears to be no sealing on the cost of tickets. If the tickets were more reasonable mate liverpool could fill the Americanao. 130,00,0 Just like the old days but my point was its not, the bloody bussiness world now owns it.

by **wiped** » Wed Jan 07, 2004 8:18 pm

Fair play Big Al ... your opening post is the most intelligent thing I've read on this board in ages ....

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