SO that was Year 1.
How was it for you?
To assess any season you have to look at the surrounding context. What are we judging progress as? A better points total? Better play? Trophies? Qualification? What is the background of that progress? Where are we going and from where?
To make it even more difficult we have to place the season next to the word ‘Liverpool’ and all the weight, expectation and connotations that come with that entity. Or do you? That’s up to you. Definitions differ from fan to fan, to generation to generation and, in some cases, agenda to agenda. To argue about direction you have to state where our starting position is and that’s different for practically everyone.
It’s not an easy task but there are some definites with which to guide our thoughts. Let’s start with the basics. Liverpool did not win the League or any other trophy, nor did we qualify for either European competition. Fair enough to some extent. Okay, we should have at least made the Europa League but the others weren’t exactly nailed on as probable so it would be harsh to take up that particular cudgel in these early days. In 1987 we saw Ian Rush off and left the field as runners up to Everton in the League. The sense around Anfield that day was one of failure, a wasted season. Had Brendan had that season he would have been carried up and down Walton Breck Rd shoulder high for the majority of the pre-season. Second place would have been a hell of a start. Context is all. Liverpool now aren’t Liverpool then.
The season started pretty much as the last one ended. Few goals, mentally weak and a playing system completely inappropriate to the players adopting it. We all want to play like Barcelona but, and this will not come as a shock, Jonjo Shelvey is not Anders Iniesta. Nuri Sahin is more Nuri Sahin than Mascherano. Time after time the opposition galloped through the centre of midfield or threw balls into the box unchallenged. Yes, it was all about the ‘philosophy’ (a word that means ‘the way things are done’ rather than something elaborate and golden. Roy Hodgson has a ‘philosophy’but it isn’t dressed up in such progressive language) but pragmatism was called for when we slipped into the bottom half of the League (and lower). Fortunately, Suarez was keeping our heads above water which was just as well as he was our only striking option.
The nadir came at Oldham. There aren’t too many Worst Defence Ever polls but I’d like to nominate Jones- Robinson-Skrtel-Coates-Wisdom in its inaugural year. Not only was the marking cowardly, the positioning awful and the keeping woeful and out of sorts with that of previous Liverpool sides but the silence that enveloped the back five was embarrassing. I was stood very low down in the away end and hoped someone would borrow Carra’s voicebox for the day but it was not to be. Seconds after the goals shoulders slumped, mud was stared at and no bollockings were made. We just sulked at the cruelty and televised shame of it all. It was to be our last chance of domestic silverware as we’d done something similar earlier with the League Cup.
Of course, the back four received no help from a two man midfield in front of it and weren’t ready for an aerial bombardment to their eleven foot striker who had become a talisman for them in previous rounds. That’s ridiculously poor planning and blaming the young players afterwards (since retracted with a chuckle and a ‘No, I didn’t mean it like that’ which will only get him so far in years to come) was a weak move. No, they didn’t perform but it was the manager who put them there and thought they were ready. Criticism must be spread evenly. As should praise, of course, and only two League defeats since then warrants that. Mistakes are fine if you learn from them, that’s what Year Zero is about, but to do it during our last chance of silverware is hard to take. Very hard. Despite the dollar signs rotating in FSG’s eyes, it’s not just about Champions League money and branding. The club belongs to the fans no matter who signs the cheques and trophies matter to them. Rafa made the mistake with the FA Cup in 2005 and put it right in 2006. Let’s hope that that’s a bullet point on a review document somewhere.
We recovered to a decent-ish points level thanks to the winter transfer window. Here the season can be judged in black and white. Anyone below us gets battered, anyone above us faces Diet Liverpool. The mentality changes with every level of opposition. Put us ahead and we’re excellent. Go behind and we’re anything but. The inability to close a game off (United at home, Everton, City and Arsenal away) smacks of insecurity and weakness and it’s here that the senior players have fallen short. Ian Rush wrote in his first autobiography that Souness (the captain) wouldn’t let anyone even suspect that defeat was an option. Christ knows what he would have done had he played in this side.
Add to this the lack of joyous game moments. The harshest critic of Dalglish would accept that we had plenty last season such as the semi final wins, Wembley and wins at Arsenal, Goodison, Etihad etc but we’ve had none of that recently save maybe for the Tottenham win when we were allowed back into the game by a back pass and a pen.
But again context is all. The fall of LFC has changed the parameters immeasurably. Rafa Benitez was sacked for 63 points and a goal difference of +26 while Brendan Rodgers’ first season has been viewed collectively as ‘alright’ with 61 points and +28. Much dirty water has passed under an unsteady bridge since then, so much so that the club smiles on the man with the fewer points. Rafa’s problem was that he dropped over twenty points to get to his figure while Brendan, in the managerial stakes at least, wears the rose of youth and the robes of Year Zero. Will the board be content with that total two years from now? Nope. But for now it’ll do. Sort of.
So what has progressed? The points and goal difference have improved since the season before, we’ve bought well in the January transfer window, have handed out some beatings and several youngsters have been blooded. In the minus column, poor start aside, there’s been the begging-for-fans-and-sponsors brochure that was Being Liverpool, the other transfer window and the embarrassment of being told what Liverpool fans should and shouldn’t do by either a hedge investment fund or their Harley riding mid-life crisis cabana boy amongst other things. I’ve written before about how the club are renowned for taking their eye off the prize with a litany of distractions, self-inflicted or otherwise, so won’t make you sit through it twice but, personally, a focus on 38 League games played like Cup finals would be progress.
That dressing room does not have a winning quality as yet. Houllier once said that success can’t be programmed, it can only be prepared for and the foundations need to be laid down. Whether you think we’ve started that is up to you but as a club we’ve lumbered from distraction to distraction. That has to end. Rodgers’ job is hard enough without his superiors pissing about in the background. If he’s ‘their’ man (while Dalglish wasn’t) they should at least help him out from time to time. Maybe even visit him once in a while. Just a thought.
It isn’t easy, however, even with a friendly media (compared to last season) and Rodgers is prone to the odd bout of Dad-at-the-disco embarrassment. So far, we’ve had to contend with the envelopes, the Andy Carroll U-turn, Joe Allen ‘throwing Yaya Toure to the floor’, the Suarez diving condemnation and even his own son but has yet to receive half of the vitriol delivered freely to two of the last three managers. That won’t last, of course. These may be small potatoes given the club’s multitude of PR gaffes but at some point, if we really do develop a title challenge, the Holts, Barclays and Samuels of the world will discover a new toy and will rip him to pieces. Ours is a media that enjoys failure if you’ve over-reached and they bear a grudge. Kenny was rude to journalists for years, Rafa’s smile masked a contempt for idiotic questions while Hodgson did absolutely nothing to damage the footballing status quo to such an extent that he was invited in. Brendan likes to talk and the more he says the more he’ll be attacked. That has to be budgeted for. Year 1 has been a honeymoon. Now the hard work starts and the silly mistakes end. Talking about ‘fighting for your life’ is one thing, doing everything in your power to ensure that the team exhausts every single calorie in their bodies to get a win is another. If this ‘project’ is going to work, and there are signs that it might, buried under the horseshit of Liverpool Football Club 2009-2012, then there are no days off. There are no more PR nightmares. There are no more instances of misuse of the official website.
I’ll explain this last point and it is only a detail but another one that can be eradicated. The club site is an information service only mixed with a few lighthearted videos of the players messing about etc. Why then must it contain transfer speculation? Surely that’s someone else’s job and it gives the impression that the writers, all good people incidentally, aren’t sure about what the club’s doing. ‘We might be buying x but we can’t comment on it’. Er, okay. This is a trifling matter when weighed next to the manager’s statement of thanks to the fans and club concerning his son’s court case. Don’t get me wrong. This must have been a terrible experience for all concerned and the sense of relief when it all ended must have been palpable but the club’s official site isn’t the place to remind the world that your son was involved in a sexual assault case. I’m frankly amazed that the club let this go on while they’re ‘seeking to extend the brand’ and paint the club as a good wholesome organisation. Even though he was found not guilty, it isn’t the place to remind the world of the accusation. What is more shocking in this case is that the club didn’t so much as utter the letters ‘HJC’ on their site for decades for fear of rocking the boat (hardly Rodgers’ fault, obviously) so to let this on is incredible. Again, I’m sure it was done with the best of intentions but it has nothing to do with LFC and the site shouldn’t have had anything to do with Brendan Rodgers other than his job as Liverpool manager. Again, this comes down to focus. It’s not an earth shattering error of judgement as such – just another silly thing we’ve done. If they want to use the site to flog shirts, fine, if they want to thank us for our support at the court case, which seems to be taken tacitly, in matters like this…well, that doesn’t fit right.
Back to the football.
61 points may be acceptable at the moment but it’s a step along on the road, not the destination. It won’t be easy. Rodgers is hectored by a lack of experience, a half arsed squad with no real voices or passion, more so without Carra, an absent board and the Litherland Fonz. When Kenny was a young manager he had Bob Paisley and Ronnie Moran down the corridor. Brendan has Colin Pascoe, a man equally inexperienced at running a club at this level. Liverpool still has a fractured fanbase and remains in the fallout of the Hodgson-Hicks-Gillett era while splinter factions of Kenny In/Kenny Out/Suarez, pro FSG/anti FSG, pro-pyro, anti-pyro elements means that we’re not the homogenous group we once were and possibly never will be again. We’re not easy to please at the best of times, never mind in transition so the manager will never keep everyone happy. Good. That’s how it should be. Everything should never be enough. This reminds me of a mate telling me that he was once sat next to a curmudgeonly bloke at a game who opined ‘Thirty years I’ve been watching this shite.’ Yeah, real hard times.
This may read like an anti-Rodgers diatribe but it really isn’t. It’s more of a list of things the Liverpool manager has to overcome for, as converse as it seems, football management is only part of the job. Poor Rodgers has to face fans, expectations, Goliath ex-managers, poor administration and an eager press before he even sets foot on the training ground. That’s what makes the definition of progress so difficult to judge. Where do you begin?
Is this progress? Someone on the podcast said that they couldn’t answer that question which tends to mean ‘no, it isn’t’ in other cases but I’m with him in that. The journey is a long one and we’ve barely begun so it’s hard to assess after a few baby steps. At the moment it’s ‘alright’ but the expectation is so great that it won’t be alright after a while. If the owners can sack a club legend from their ivory tower in Boston they’re not going to think twice about ditching the new regime in the interests of Champions League revenue. We’ve done okay, no better no worse, but the honeymoon is now over. I’d say a target of 72 points would be the very lowest we can expect in the next stage. In terms for a marks out of ten I’d go for 6.5/10. See me.
Now the work starts in earnest.
I’m of the exact same view regarding that statement on the offy site… thought it very bizarre and pointless.
Enjoyed that cheers.
I still think BR will need 4/5 yrs but we all know he won’t get that unless he reaches the top 4 next season. . that would be a shame.
Karl, I completely agree with your view on the use of the official website to “thank” the fans following his sons’ acquittal on an extremely grave matter.
To use an acquittal of a family member on a group sex charge as a means of generating goodwill and some cheap PR amongst the fanbase is disingenuous in the extreme – and, given the sordid nature of the allegations against his son, frankly disgusting.
It also begs the question what “support” was actually offered during the course of the court case? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t recall any show of solidarity from the fans, who were, at best, ambivalent and let justice take its course with some sense of perspective and dignity. Qualities which sadly seem to be lacking in this grotesque, almost triumphalist statement from the manager.
-This may read like an anti-Rodgers diatribe but it really isn’t.-
no it really is.
I don’t think it would matter if he won the PL title & the CL in the one year with the club, because there are a particular cult with a different agenda who don’t really want to see any manager succeed here because he is not their choice. If Citeh of Chelski jobs come up for him he’d be mad not to take them. Amazing, all my workmates who follow other teams would have him in a heart beat , but all we can do is ridicule him. Pity he wasn’t born Spanish, he’d be a god.
Josek, Steve
What’s your view on the official website commenting on a group sex allegation involving the manager’s son but ignoring the HJC for years. In particular, the club stated around the late 90s and the time of the formation of the HJC that it couldn’t deal with “two groups with competing interests”.
But they can run copy on this.
Personally, I think its appalling.
Your just being ridiculous Andy,
Excellent article.
Just to add my own thought: I guess I won’t get it too wrong if I suggest that Brendan Rodgers is not really liked by the fans. I thought about it. Why? He seems a likable guy, doesn’t he? So why nobody really likes him?
There are roughly 3 categories of fans and their attitudes:
1) The majority supports him and is more optimistic about him. They recognise that he has an extremely difficult job to do at the massive club, with currently limited resources, and they are prepared to tolerate his mistakes as long as he learns from them.
2) More skeptical. Admit the good results, but become impatient as soon as something goes wrong. Tend to bring the owners’ and Ian Ayre’s ineptitude into equation as soon as we lose a game of football. Grudgingly prepared to give him more time to get things right, but never miss a chance to ridicule him and remind him that he’s no Shankly… (I think I personally rather belong to this category than the one above, except I don’t blame FSG and Ayre when our defence has conceded a goal, or forwards missed their chances).
3) Smallest but loudest one: a famous Rodgers-Out brigade. Difficult ones. Blame FSG and Rodgers for every sin in the world. Tend to call everyone non-scouse “wools” and tell them to “go support your local club”. Frankly, not much to say about those except they are very difficult to talk to, because all they want to do is to shout abuse at everyone who politely expresses some disagreement. They don’t seem to know their arse from their elbow football-wise. Heard of Mourinho and Guardiola and want them, because they are famous like. And before, they thought Hodgson was famous, so they shouted for Rafa to be sacked.
Back to Rodgers. He is not liked. He is tolerated at best. Even by the first category who supports him. And that’s not because we are all c**ts. That’s because he seems unnatural. People don’t like pretenders. People don’t like when Brendan Rodgers tries to sound like Bill Shankly. Or to wrap crap into a pink paper in a hope we buy it.
The best thing that Rodgers can do, and that would be my friendly advice to him: do what you’re doing lad. But please, just be yourself. Don’t try to be someone who you are not. Don’t try to sound “corporate”. Drop your “philosophy” shit. Drop your “we were outstanding” shit when it’s clear for everyone that we were shite.
Just do your job, be passionate about it, for real, not for public. Show emotions. Look upset and angry when you are upset and angry, and happy when you are happy, for real. And hey, maybe things start getting better both on the pitch and among supporters who may finally give some passion back?
Just my 2 cents.
In other words Karen the majority are no better than the Chelski followers will all love to berate.
No, that’s not “in other words”. That’s not what I said at all…. but I do understand that my comment is too bulky to be arsed to read for some people.
blag that
First of all our P.R. is absolutely useless.Is Chang still chasing Yogi Bear for impersonating Gerry Byrne and Barney Rubble from The Flinstones for infringing on Alan Kennedy’s image rights to the nickname? .
Secondly,Rodgers started off like a total arse trying to show a squad of very accomplished international foorballers how to kick a ball was cringe making in the extreme.What ever he thought he was doing with those envelopes on “Being Liverpool”was just bizzare.
Even now he can’t resist making do with 10–15 minutes of post match comments when 2-3 minutes is all that is needed.
But I have to say that he’s been like a young pup jumping up and down trying to make friends with everybody so far.”Look at me! Look at me!”
Having said all that we’ve played some good football lately but you can’t go on claiming bad luck every time you lose.
Maybe he’ll learn how to outsmart the “big” teams like Benitez did?
I just don’t know.But for the moment I’ll get behind him and just hope!
Josek,
why would he be seen as a god if he was Spanish? Martinez is Spanish, has won more than him, arguably plays more attractive football than him, and he isnt held up as some sort of deity.
Has anyone found out the names those envelopes?
( Possibly one of the most naïve ideas ever!
There were no names in envelopes!It was a cheap party trick!
I don’t get why there is so much negativity towards Rodgers. Give the man a break! When he was first appointed everyone was saying how well he spoke. I don’t have a problem with him. So what if he talks about philosophies and like Shankly, it doesn’t matter as he generally speaks well and always tries to be positive. I’d much rather listen to him than to the garbage Hodgson used to come out with. I think people should get off his back and start supporting him properly. Yes he’s made some mistakes but he’s inexperienced at a club like this so give him a chance. I think he’s got us playing exciting football and that’s without a team full of his players. Wait until he has a full team of his own players and then judge him. He didn’t walk into an easy job. We have’t been in the top four for 4 seasons and haven’t won the league for about 23 years so you can’t expect him to just walk in with the players he had and steam roller everyone in the league. Let’s not forget he lost 4 or 5 of our best goalscorers last summer without a big budget to replace them. I think the foundations are now laid and if he can have a good transfer window this summer then I see no reason why we can’t be challenging for top four. We’re not gonna win the league next season as we are competing with teams who have a lot more money and they are in the champions league so will attract better players than us so we need to give him time. Obviously next season has to be better than this season but I don’t see why it won’t be. With our resources this is going to be a gradual improvement season upon season.If in 3 or 4 years if we are still not challenging for the league then we can say Rodgers isn’t up to it but until then as long as we are improving all the time then let’s give him our support. As Dalglish used to say if we are going to be successful we all need to stick together and support the club.
People want Rodgers gone because they believe Rafa will be reinstated. It must be an age related thing, they all seem to be younger supporter that selected LFC on the back of Owen or Istanbul. Fuck the lot of them, pathetic agenda driving gobshites. The sooner they take their hate elsewhere, the better games will feel.
I’m a so called ‘Wool’ as my dads from Bootle but I was born in Manchester! Anyway, I am as passionate about LFC as any man, any where.
Take a good look at what this man had walked into, A fuc king disaster zone. The last 3 years, we have been lucky to stay afloat let alone progress to a point where we have a 1st team of internationals.
Rodgers has had the bo llocks to do things the right way, Under such intense pressure and scrutiny he has still stuck to his guns & given several youngsters a chance in a very pivotal season for the future of LFC!
How dare some of you even say ‘you’ll never walk alone’ Shame on you!!!!
Amen Adam Smith
The envelopes were a motivational joke ffs, why people are caught up in a big fucking drama over it is beyond me, “being Liverpool” made a joke of most people involved but these people had no choice now get over it ffs!! As for the manager, some of our idiot fans will never be happy as don’t realise how far as a club we’ve fallen behind and how we punched above our weight for a long time by getting top four, the fact is there is massive competition for places now and we need to build together to make that top four once again.. This will happen quicker if everyone is together and the club sort out the problems and fans start backing the manager..
Hi Mate,Just a reminder,we are not punching above our weight.In fact we are heavy weights presently trying to exist in a light weight division.
Do you think of Chisora and Audley Harrison as being in the same class as Ali and Frazier?
Well it’s no isn’t it?And that’s what LFC is.We’re punching well below our weight.
We are on the same level as Real Madrid,Inter Milan,and Bayern Munich.We’re not Johnny come lateley’s like Aston Villa and Manchester United and Benfica.
The sooner we realise this the better!
Thanks.
Hi mate! Think your slightly mistaken about being heavy weights as our league positions have proved, we need to build to get that status back but I feel we are going in the right direction, however my comment was more about when we were qualifying for top four regularly because there wasn’t the competion there is now for places, in our own minds we are always heavy weights but ultimately we are biased as we support this great club who has been let down over the years by poor ownerships and failure to move forward as a whole we things were going well, I think if we spend right this summer fourth is a big possibility but we have to earn that heavy weight status once again on the field before the rest of the footballing world agree… Cheers…
You’re right Marclfc,But my point is that we should never in a million years accept that we are second best to anybody.Just no compromise!
The minute we accept that…well it’s over.My message is more to the owners and the board though.This is Liverpool Football Club! There is no compromise!
I think when you finish where we have the last few seasons with no champions league you sometimes have to accept second best in terms of money available, squad depth and league position, it doesn’t mean I don’t have extremely high hopes each season and through my red tinted glasses think we can win every game it just gets to the point where you know that you have to accept we have to build gradually to get into the top four then kick on and challenge for the league but I totally agree its down to the owners now to back Rodgers and stand up in the transfer market and show we aren’t clueless anymore which has been part of our downfall in the last load of years, we don’t let luis go for any less that £55 mil and if we don’t get it then he honours his contract, I think we are beginning to do things right but my fear is getting the right quality player to kick us on but the signs are good so far I think..
Hi Marklfc,
There are no excuses!There is no compromise! We can all understand about transfers and finishing higher up the league and how investment is needed.
But that cuts no ice with me.This is a world renowned Football Club.If you get to own this Club the deal is we have to be the best.No half-arsed dabbling.Just action.Money where your mouth is!
This has been nearly 3 years of stagnation.I might think that Rodgers is improving things,but I don’t see any signs elsewhere.
We have to raise our game.We have to expand our profile.We have to get some kind of professional public relations going on.
We are at the moment just treading water.We need to come back with bang.That might be a big big signing;it might be getting some favourable media coverage.
But,one way or another we have to start to remember that we are one of the biggest Clubs in World Football!
Hi Brian.. Pretty spot on mate, we are a cluster fuck off field recently and we just seem to make bad move after bad at all levels, we can’t run a club without decision makers on this side of the pond and while I’m not anti Fenway I feel this is the biggest few months of their time here, we need to start doing things right in house and I think we showed progress in the way we handled the bite and hopefully we have got the transfers/scouting systems in place and the signs are good as jan showed and we are already doing things early on to avoid last summers debacle, I don’t believe this £20mil budget either but we need to spend right and if Suarez goes he goes on our terms and at our price otherwise we keep him like many clubs have done before, but I agree we need something of a statement and I just hope we do it this summer..