Liverpool FC Forum

made in UK wrote:

supersub wrote:

phil_cool wrote:A real fan want's what is best for the club, is Rafa best for the club, that is the question. The answer is disputable.

Or debateable

Or debatable 

sorry for mistake busy conversing with 8 alter egos by PM ....phil-cool man of many faces

aCe' wrote:wish i was a real fan like you... or even just a supporter....

supersub wrote:

made in UK wrote:

supersub wrote:

phil_cool wrote:A real fan want's what is best for the club, is Rafa best for the club, that is the question. The answer is disputable.

Or debateable

Or debatable 

sorry for mistake busy conversing with 8 alter egos by PM ....phil-cool man of many faces

No...i counted 9. 

supersub wrote:sorry for mistake busy conversing with 8 alter egos by PM ....phil-cool man of many faces

Well peewee is not one of them (he PM'd me to let me know) 

phil_cool wrote:A real fan want's what is best for the club, is Rafa best for the club, that is the question. The answer is disputable.

bigmick wrote:

Rockthekop wrote:What exactly is real fan anyway?

I'm not sure, I only know that I've been told many times on here that I aren't one of them. I've given it some thought, and I don't pretend to have all the answers but I do know this much (I think).

Being a "real fan" has nothing to do with how long you've supported the club (I've been a Liverpool supporter since I was six years old, 1972 to present).

Strangely, for some people it also doesn't matter if you go the game regularly (the bloke who started this thread does and his "real fanness" was questioned) or live near the city (ditto).

It doesn't matter that you slag people who are in the employ of the club on here, in the sense that it is possible to slag certain players off and still be "real". Babel for instance has a target on his back, so does Dossena but to a lesser extent. Even Gerrard can be openly questioned as to his 'body language" his "me-ness" and his "committment". Players such as Kuyt and Lucas are strimctly off limits obviously. The owners of course are right in the hitting zone and you can build your "real fan" status back up be slagging them. That's like one of those "refuel zones" on a computer game where you can build your strength up again.

The manager is absolutely out of bounds obviously. If you express any doubts whatsover about the manager, or openly wonder if we might win a trophy within the next few years, your "real fan" status can be seriously in doubt before you know it. On the other hand, comparing him to managers of our past who won untold trophies and continually talking about his "love for the club" and "tactical genius" can repair damage which you may have inflicted upon yourself. This damage is self inflicted by for instance wondering why Martin Skrtel was playing at right back or Peter Crouch on the left wing.

Another tricky area, a minefield infact, is the one of "belief". This probably trips up more "Real fan" wannabees than any other area. "Belief" is all very well of course, but you've got to be very careful what you believe in. When real fans tell you to "believe", they DON'T mean believe that we really ought to win something occasionally. Believing this is ridiculous and delusional apparently because we haven't got as much money as Chelsea, and because Man Utd had a better team than us in 2003. On the other hand, when we are palably out of any chance whatsoever of winning the title, you mustn't say you "believe" we won't win it. You have to say you "believe" we can, even though you know we won't. You must all the time keep your powder dry to stick the boot into anyone who says that we really ought to be able to have a stab at it, because we obviously can't as we haven't got enough money (see earlier). This section needs to be studied by any wannabees, as it's by far the most treacherous.

Should you pass through these tests without perishing, there are further mountains to climb. You still have to jump through the hoops transfer market wise for instance, and the whole thing culminates in an excrutiatingly difficult short story section where you have to pretend that we've spent less money than everyone else, regardles of whether we have or not.

In short, being a "real fan" is not easy. I'm actually not all that gutted that I aren't one, I don't think I could handle it.

Owzat wrote:

phil_cool wrote:A real fan want's what is best for the club, is Rafa best for the club, that is the question. The answer is disputable.

I disagree, in the sense of using the term 'real fan'. Opinions differ, some prefer to back the manager as their loyalty while others ask that question. ALL fans should be asking themselves if Rafa has the skills, too many are wrapped up in the issue of money to see that isn't the only issue and that we don't just lose or not win games because the opposition has more money than us. We've kept it tight at the back previously, now we're leaking worse than the titanic but apparently that too must be a money thing. And even though we scored 34 goals in the last 11 games last season, when we do go through a lean patch it is down to money. We sent Keane back long before that spell of scoring, other than that we have added Voronin to the options available during that spell.

Or put simply, this is Rafa's joint second worst start as LFC manager, only five times in the whole Premiership have we made worse starts so it ranks in the bottom 33%

I'm not convinced Rafa could win the league if he were manager of Citeh or even Chelsea. Put him in charge of Chelsea right now and I bet that lead would be whittled away as he finds ways to drop points and make a solid unit divided and dysfunctional.