Neil, Rob, Jim, Mike, Kristian and Nick were joined by Neil Sang, Paul Machin and Jayne Lawless in Seel Street Studios as they try to avoid talking about the WBA result.
Direct link to PODCAST: KRISTIANS BIG WORDS
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Agree about the mentality thing. When we don’t get the early/first goal at Anfield we crumble. That’s how fragile we are. The symbiotic angst between players and crowd kicks in and the teams panics.
It’s nothing new though; we’ve seen this numerous times the last twenty years. Every time we think we may be about to turn a corner this happens.
We weren’t poor last night. We were mediocre. Certainly much better than West Brom, who did absolutely nothing for 80 minutes and didn’t even defend particularly well.
Teams with a killer instinct grind out a 1-0 or 2-0 victory in these games, but we shit ourselves instead. The crowd panics and starts moaning, and the players aren’t mentally strong enough to calmly keep playing, like the best teams do.
I would say that that result was exactly the type of result the crowd deserved.
There was barely even a whimper when Stevie was stepping up to take the penalty, which was all we needed to grind out one of those ugly 1-0’s. I don’t think anyone could ever say that Gerrard is mentally weak, but it was a fairly weak penalty coupled with a fairly nice save. If the “12th man” were roaring for it I reckon you would have seen the reverse.
The fact that half the crowd left in a huff of indignation before then end summed it up for me. I say fine, get home to bed 20 min earlier but just be sure to sell your season ticket to someone on the waiting list on the way home. It was a Monday night, so there wouldn’t have been any Scandinavians, Irish or Londoners who usually get the blame. Someone needs to erect a really big mirror so everyone in the crowd can see a wall full of people trying their best to stare out our players.
I really liked Steve Grave’s recent post on the atmosphere but it can’t just stop there. Anfield feels like it is on life support (if it hasn’t already passed), and swift action is needed. I reckon putting pressure on the club to change the seating arrangements so groups of (hopefully younger) friends can get together and get behind our team is a really good idea. Barring that, Gibbo seriously needs to bring down his trumpet and keep playing it really loud to cover for the fact you could otherwise hear a pin drop, and hopefully scare away a few of the grumpy old men who are resting on their laurels from 30 years ago.
sound quality is terrible lads
Yeah, I could barely hear it unfortunately.
I don’t understand this stuff about players not being mentally strong.They got to be professional footballers because they are mentally strong.Have you any idea what it takes to be a pro footballer at any level;never mind premier league.
I used to know a mate who was a mate of Tommy Smith before he became a 1st team player.Tommy used to call to his house on the way out on a Thursday night.They used to play football in the lobby (a long hallway floored in lino;like a plastic floor covering).
My mate had 2 young kids about 5 + 6.They paired up with one of the kids on each side.They set a time of 5 minutes.If Tommy was losing he started slide tackling along the full length of the lobby and would’t pack in till he had the winner.Even if the kids got in the way!He just couldn’t stand losing.
I’ve known a few professional sports people in my time.The thing they all have in common is an incredible will to win.They don’t let you off with anything!Even in friendly jousts they need to get serious!
But what do you do?You’re in a Club that you would have crawled over broken glass to get a chance.But your boss is telling you to do it this way and that way.It’s not your natural instinct but you know you’re gone if you don’t go along with it.We’ve all had bosses like that and you wonder “How the hell did this man get this job?”
So don’t for one minute think that these players don’t have any heart.Don’t for one minute think that they are content to go through the motions and pick their wages up.
They are simply not made that way.But like us all they have to obey instructions at times or risk being shipped out somewhere.The “Boss” has the final say.
I’ve heard people talking about Gerrard being finished.Not fit.Over the hill! The only problem with Gerrard is that he’s clearly not interested in tippy tappy or pass and move in this way.
He just wants to win the game;whatever it takes.
It’s a philosophy that seems to be lost on certain egos at the Club!
Hi Brian, we get it, you don’t like Brendan Rodgers’s style, and you think he is egotisitical. But to suggest that Gerrard is not trying because he doesn’t believe in the manager’s philosophy is pretty far-fetched for mine. One, because as you say, Gerrard is one of those “winners” who would give anything to win for the club, and two, he wasn’t even playing “tippy tappy”!! Gerarrd was sitting deep and spraying as many diagonal balls as he has ever done.
So how about you get behind the club you love and give the manager a chance to prove himself instead of wishing you could roll back the years and watch the Liverpool team of the 70-80’s again? You’ve already done that once which is more than a lot of us have had, so could you please try not to ruin what we have now any further by contributing to the negative atmosphere around the club.
PS sorry to keep replying to your posts, its nothing personal
Hey Tom,You obviously don’t get it! Do you think I sit in an armchair and wish we still had Steve Heighway and Ian Rush.Do you think that I don’t believe that Gerrard gives everything?
You are missing the point Tom;just like a lot of supporters who trusted blind faith when Hicks and Gillette were running the show.And now you think that the answer is to give this man another 3,4,or 5 years of stultifying football;lurching from one crisis to the next.
It doesn’t mean that you don’t support the Club.It just means that you are prepared to accept mediocrity.Northwich Victoria fans do that.And they are happy to be where they are.
Me? Well I’m a Liverpool FC supporter.And I’ll raise the roof if it helps us to win!But at the same time I see a ham-fisted half-arsed approach to running this Club and I just don’t accept that!
My standards seem to be a lot higher than yours.It doesn’t mean that you support the Team any less than I do.
Maybe it means that over the years I have watched and studied a few more games than you have just now ?Maybe it means that I see things differently?
One thing I can tell you is that having played in many games at a decent level I can see a very poor approach to many games that Rodgers has managed so far.
Arsenal was a prime example.So was City.
Anyway TomC no point in going in to detail.Just enjoy watching LFC and I’m sure that one day everything will be O.K.Fingers crossed eh?
All the best!M5>9
well i turned that one off after 5 minutes, i could not hear a thing, even with my headphones turned up to full volume.
I was watching an old Hancock’s Half Hour earlier this week (I realise that you are all to young to remember ‘Ancock), and as he launched into one of his usual self-serving, soliloquies with their absurb propositions with heavy overdoses of delusion, I saw Brendan Rodgers face and realised that likening him to David Brent is wide of the mark.
I have also cracked the code on the puzzling, not to say ludicrous, personnel changes which have been a feature of the man’s management all season. The answer is that he doesn’t give a fuck about the score, or even the game; it’s patterns he likes. Takes off the best players (eg Henderson and Downing this week) because their geometry and trigonometry is not to his liking. As he said once when Swansea lost 2-0 – “I thought we were wonderful.”
It will by now be clear to you that I am not a fan of Brendan Rodgers, but I am comforted by knowing that I am part of a growing army.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind losing; what I don’t like is faults standing out like bulldogs balls and being ignored. Set -piece conceding; lead-losing; never winning after going behind.
You lot have better credentials than he does. After all, his ‘success’ at Swansea was due to inheriting someone else’s style. And his penchant for targetting nine-stone midgets in his hunts for reinforcements won’t help. Get a petition going to get him arsed out: stage a coup. Please?
You really want a fifth manager in four years, after giving the current manager less than a season? Who would you even want to replace him?
Kevin, I’m comforted by knowing you’re an idiot. Stick to watching Hancock and let real supporters do something constructive, like supporting
Michael, I have an IQ of 137, actually. Idiots have IQs of something approximating yours. If you think this man is LFC’s last, best hope, then you are a gullible simpleton – tape all his little homilies, do you?
What’s a homily
I don’t think we played that badly. Although some players didn’t have good games I think on the whole we actually played quite well. It was just frustrating because we weren’t scoring but if you look at the stats we had 25 shots on goal to West Brom’s 5. We also had nearly 60% possession. On top of that quite a few of those shots were really good and if it wasn’t for the keeper having a blinder would have gone in on another day. Yes we gave the ball away way too much but you can’t complain having 25 shots. Your not always going to play perfect football. I’ve seen Man Utd play worse than we did on quite a number of ocassions this season and yet they win those games. The difference is they are more clinical in front of goal. We didn’t lose this game because we played badly, we lost because West Brom’s keeper had an excellent game, we weren’t clinical enough in front of goal and our centre backs notably Agger keeps making mistakes. Agger and Skrtel keep making mistakes in too many games at the moment and it’s costing us. They aren’t bad players. It’s not long ago everyone was saying they were the best centre back pairing in the premier league. They are just out of form at the moment. If Agger continues to make mistakes we should give Coates a run in the team with Carragher to see what he can do as he hasn’t been given a fair chance yet. Also I don’t understand what’s going on with Sterling. At the start of the season he was taking on players and going past them and looked like a world beater. I don’t know why but he’s completely stopped doing that and doesn’t even try to go passes players anymore but instead playing simple sideways passes all the time. On the whole I think were doing ok it’s just little things that need ironing out. Keep the faith.
Coates seems to have had his confidence destroyed. I don’t know what he’s done wrong, but BR won’t entertain him.
I dont blame Rodgers. He is a mid table manager, that’s what you get…mid table. He’s good at what he does, but on current form certainly not Champions League. Why is everyone expecting something different?
But, I’m prepared to pay my money and get behind him just in case he turns out to be some sort of genius. And, I dont think there is anything wrong with intelligent debate about this issue without it resorting to name calling or the usual mantra: “go and follow chelsea, blah blah”. If proven managers with real experience and success in winning silverware (Houiller, Benitez, Hodgson, Dalglish – all of them winners!!) struggled to get near a title how can Rodgers be expected to?
The problem Rodgers might have is that FSG want the club to run like Barca, ie, if the manager goes, or is moved on, the team keep playing the same way. In other words, it will be interesting to see if FSG give him the cash he needs in the summer.
Anyway, something needs doing about the seating allocation, so friends can sit together.
Not having that Gerrard’s a shit penalty taker all of a sudden just because of his miss the other night. He tucked away a load of pressure pens either side in the run-in to 08/09 to keep us in the title race. Last one of his that I remember being saved in the league (which wasn’t good enough for him to just tap the rebound in) was against Arsenal about 7 years ago. Don’t know how many but that’s probably a lot of penalties ago. Aldo was a great penalty taker and I don’t doubt that, but he was only taking them for 2 seasons at Liverpool.
Definitely agree on the mental weakness front, which is just a nice way of saying we have a team of losers. Harsh? Maybe, but relative to the number of games you have to win/not lose to come top 4 only Reina, Carragher and Gerrard have been proven, consistent winners for Liverpool season after season in the league. Might be a bit harsh on Agger and Skrtel, but Agger was always injured and Skrtel came in when we still had Sami.
Sound quality was absolutely terrible. I think I am 14 seconds in at the moment and have given up, it sounded like I was hearing a distant echo of the opening.
Its blatantly obvious that our problem is the lack of rest our top players have this season, Gerrard and Suarez have been playing nearly every game including internationals, even when they were rested they had to come on to save the team. If you want to challenge for fourth you need a good squad i.e a team that can beat west brom at home 9 times out of 10 without Stevie or Suarez. That is why we aint competing for top four places. We are a big club and all players raise there game against us, we are an easy scalp these days.
Dubai in UAE, different country to Qatar where Suarez and Coates played.
Shelvey playing No 10 instead of hendo was major prob
Gents, please sort out the mixing on your podcasts. This is the second one in a row where your voices are way too low (unlistenable) but your laughter explodes my speakers.
Guys I have followed you from the start…but the quality is slipping. The sound is a shocker on this one, and some weeks you seem half pissed and talk about so much irrelevant crap.
Please focus, get back to where you were. cut down the number of people in the room at one time if it means we can hear you..stop talking over each other.
Our issue was put in perspective perfectly by a gentleman in this section: ‘mid table manager, we will finish mid table’.. Management is about inspirational leadership… That’s why we are languishing where we are, we are managed by a bloke who has delusions of grandeur. His arrogance is based on wet tissue paper.. No credentials just some shite dossier he presented to a gullable owner who knows nothing about football. His purchases, Sturridge apart(early days though), have been calamitous. It is devastating to listen to the confused nonsense Rodgers talks, fur coat and no knickers is the analagy I would use.. A very lucky man, a fake in my eyes, who is in way above his head and should be relieved of his duties.
put the knives away, you bunch of malingerers!
its people like you that cost Rafa and Kenny their jobs.
watching a defeat hurts but its still my team and its still entertaining.
we’re not getting smashed, we’re always in with a chance, so chin chin old chaps and keep the faith.
the question i always put to people who wanted rafa/kenny out was; who’s the replacement?
the usual suspects would always pop up (O’Neill, Mourinho, Pardew, Hiddink etc.) and it felt like i was talking to a sky sports news presenter.
I for one cant go through another summer of uncertainty. We’re not getting any younger so to continuously throw season after season away is starting to get on my tits!
While the tracks are being laid the ride will be bumpy but give a young manager time to iron out the kinks and it could be smooth sailing.
Never forget that our success was a result of hope. Make sure you keep doing it.
YNWA (Unless you’re The Hodge)
Amen to that Bernie.
I’m actually looking forward to next Thursday; it’s backs against the wall. Throat lozenges at the ready for Friday morning – I guarantee there will be some noise at Anfield at long last.
Please keep the faith. We’re actually playing quite well in the majority of games. Rodgers is a young manager with a fairly young squad. Both he and his players will develop and grow over the coming seasons. Anyway, we can’t keep spinning this managerial merry go round. A decent manager at a club for 3 years is usually more successful than a brilliant manager at a club for one year. Continuity is key – walk on!
“YNWA (Unless you’re The Hodge)” – haha! The best thing some one as contradictory as you can contribute to this debate is silence !!!