Tuesday 4 May 2010

The Day A Great Football Club Died. Goodbye Liverpool


Firstly, I have to say I didn't expect any favours from Liverpool. I wasn't praying for some sort of miracle, or that the Scouse would cut their own noses off to spite their 18 league titled face.

Liverpool were the team I envied as a boy. I supported a team that was a 'former' giant. Yes we still won quite a few games, but silverware was scarce. An FA Cup win represented a heart felt triumph, that would lead to much Mancunian merriment. We didn't even dare dream of winning a league title back then. Because if we did, then the reality that was the Big Red Machine from down the M62 would rear its ugly head, cock back its bionic neck and dive forward with teeth made from razorblades. We were second class citizens to their football royalty.

Things have changed since the Seventies and Eighties, and thankfully so. I need not bore you (ahem!) with detail of United successes...league titles, European glory, beautiful players and a Theatre of Dreams. We all know what happened next. It's been a generation since Liverpool last won the league. A fifth of a century has passed since a Liver Bird got it's feathers anywhere near the title. And on Sunday we saw what I feel was the lowest they have ever sunk too.

Only a fool would really believe that Steven Gerrard meant to pass the ball to Didier Drogba...that he was trying to lose a game in front of the Kop. Yes..some Scouse idiots did clap as Drogba rounded Reina to slot home, but they are cretins who defecate on the history of their own club. Rather than be a deliberate act by Gerrard, it was one of a deeply philosophical relevance. The final nail in the coffin of a side that no longer believes what their elders tell them. Take Burnley, Derby County or Wolves..all teams that have won the League Championship in what is living memory for many old football fans. These supporters remember the day their team ruled..and they have told their kids about it, and their grandchildren. However the point is that these achievements just become stories..told by one generation to a younger one. They are like fairytales..that are often followed by a nightmare or three.

Liverpool have left behind that history now to their older fans. And it has been true that ALL of their fans are in the middle of one great big nightmare NOW..Nineteen defeats in a season..the Champions League but a distant dream. A manager who really does look like he would be better waiting tables. A captain that will question that his career has been wasted. A world class striker that will demand a move to something better. A team so weak that only a year after 'nearly' winning a league, have decomposed quicker than your average compost heap. It is chronic. It is terminal. It has the stench of a club that's about to become 'Sleeping Giants'..joining the cast headed by Newcastle United. It is Lucas Leiva personified.

Many will say that Liverpool are at a crossroads now. But i think that crossroads was met twelve months back..when Liverpool had the chance to effect their immediate history in a positive manner. Manchester United were at a similar junction in 1989. A simple goal by Mark Robins changed United's future forever on a cold wet day at the City Ground, Nottingham. My 12 year old self punched the air as the diminutive striker poached the goal and the game for us. That memory is lodged in my head. Had United not won that day it was felt that Alex Ferguson would have been sacked, and despite the old board refuting this now in the modern day, if you were supporting the team in those days you will remember his head was on the chopping block primed for decapitation, playing similar stuff that you see Liverpool play today. It was all over bar the shouting. But somehow with a little luck and a pro-active attitude, Fergie took a stride forward..and we all went with him. Likewise, as Benitez has slipped further into the pits of hell, he has taken his players and supporters with him. He has built a side of hugely average proportions, and he has made sure that the memories of a once great club are purely that...flashes in the long term thoughts of older fans and only to be played on club history DVDs.

And as the Big Four is reduced to the Big Three, a new menace sits on the horizon. And it is the presence and power of Manchester City that will prove the real death of Liverpool. Not only have the Merseysider's been ousted by the new boys, they have already been 'replaced'. Money talks..and our evil blue brothers have plenty of it to make sure that the quota of Champions League clubs is full for the foreseeable future. Add Spurs and Villa to that mix...and it really looks like that Anfield will become English football's newest ghost town.

A coastal town they forgot to close down. Come Armageddon...come.

Share/Bookmark

40 comments:

  1. wishful thinking! just like 5 european cups would be!

    ReplyDelete
  2. yawn... if its Liverpool's time now its the Man utd's time next. give it a year or two and we'll see who is laughing loudest.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh dear. You're not very bitter are you.

    Think of this season as progression. Last year you weren't the best in Europe. This year you're unlikely to be the best in England and next you won't even be the best in Manchester. Or even just outside.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Zzzzzzzz ...

    ReplyDelete
  5. well balanced bullsh*t that mate. You're obviously so high up in the Theatre of Doom that you're not getting enough oxygen. Things ain't looking so hot at your own club...

    ReplyDelete
  6. LIVERPOOL ARE A JOKE!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Pass me the Kleenex - a Manc going all philosophical. Why dont you worry about your own plight and let us worry about ours.

    I look forward to the "New Menace" taking over big time and sweeping all before them - perhaps that tosser in the Stretford end with the year counter banner will have to rip it up.

    BTW - did he have a similar one counting Man U`s trophyless years - me thinks not

    ReplyDelete
  8. MAN UTD R A FOOKIN JOKE

    ReplyDelete
  9. utterly ridiculous, pub philosophy. by the way, United went 26 years without winning a league title even when they had more money than anyone else. So in terms of failures, if you a measuring it historically, you have your answer. Though, admittedly we are catching up year by year.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Typical. The only thing thats missing from that load of tripe is a video with a plastic flag fluttering in the wind.

    ReplyDelete
  11. typical manure fan ,likes to talk about the great LFC . mind you theres probably no club in a few years ,as they would have been made bankrupt anyway !!!! lol

    ReplyDelete
  12. i love red nose alchos

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love it when morons write this sort of garbage. its typical of a united fan to be more bothered about whats happening in Liverpool than whats happening at his own club. Liverpool "a ghost town" haha. New owners on the horizon. . . .maybe we can start throwing £30 million here and £30 million there to bring players in.. .hopefully better quality than the likes of Berbatov, Anderson and some of the shite that united bring in, 1 bad season. . .ONE SEASON. . . Lets just see what the future holds. DIC in, Benitez Gerrard, Torres to stay at the club they LOVE, New Stadium, New Era. New Champions. . .Alex Ferguson to retire, Benitez to knock that club off their perch.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wishfull Thinking, trust me as I am well informed.Print this out and put it under your bed. When our new messiah the modern day Shankly walks through the gates in June and our new owners with money to burn start there seige on the Premiership and then on Europe, and yes you will have been overtaken by you Manchester counterparts. Take this peice of paper out and read all about American owners and the comments you have writen and wonder ! Actually had I written the future for ourselves?? Good Luck MUFC because your going to need it with a Debt that pales ours to insignificance !!! Who'll bale you out??

    ReplyDelete
  15. boss donnellon4 May 2010 at 22:17

    someone call the rat catchers-neville is on the loose.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I think Liverpool have had quite a good season actually, in comparison to the one they're going to have next year.

    Bye bye Torres
    Bye bye Stevie Me

    You can keep hold of the fat Spanish waiter though.

    Fair play to all you Scouse cunts anyway, I truly hope you manage a top 10 finish..not gonna happen though is it

    He's cracking up! He's cracking up!FACT!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Prettily said but rubbish all the same!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Well said Rob. I agree on all counts.

    ReplyDelete
  19. wow...the truth really hurts

    The writer of the article stating what has actually happened to Liverpool....

    The commentators hoping what will happen to Man United

    ReplyDelete
  20. Its one bad season!!! FFS!

    This is a critical point that marks a division or a change of course; a turning point! In other words a watershed!

    Liverpools watershed is 6th or 7th and it feels like the end of the world now however next season with new ownership and with that massive player investment Liverpool, with the core of fantastic players they have will be stronger for the experience and with or without a new manager will be ready make inroads on two very old and very ordinary teams (Chelski and Utd).

    we are about to be graced by possibly the worst champions for the last 7-8 years.

    At least w'll be rid of our cancer yours still owns the club and have no intentions of relinquishing their power in the near future.

    Is it the Manchester Buccaneers we should be saying goodbye too?

    ReplyDelete
  21. So bitter ! mancs even worry about us when we're shite you lot are better not trying to act civilized and pretending you can write go back to your normal ways like "SHAMELESS". Look down the M62 and see a true culture. By the way start collecting your pennies thicko's cos your gonna need them when your Americans send the Reaper in calling. RIP MUFC

    ReplyDelete
  22. I think you should be worrying about your own club. As a West Brom fan and so impartial in matters I would be more worried about Utd surviving. Over half a billion in debt with an aging squad and aging manager Utd's outlook is quite frankly scary. Without the sale of ronaldo to real, Utd would be in dire financial straights right now. How different would that be to liverpool having to sell Torres? Uts just did it first.

    Two years from now I don't think either will be a force in the English game because both have overspent and can barely afford the repayments on the crazy loans taken out to buy them both.

    Strangely you're both in the same position and it's just that you don't realise it yet. Hold onto the memories because pretty soon that's all you'll have for a very long time.

    This is not a prediction but to use a delightful Rafa-ism, FACT.

    ReplyDelete
  23. This time next year Looserpool will be fighting for their premiership life.

    Nothing would make me happier than to see them go down.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Liverpool FC will never become Newcastle FC or any other former English Giant, we will always be Liverpool FC, with a huge fanbase all around the world i can't see it happening, keep on dreaming!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Still far too many scousers with their heads still stuck up their arses,
    Next stop relegation for them

    ReplyDelete
  26. Short sighted gumpf.

    Benitez has been a failure on the transfer market, he can't develop talented players, he plays talented players out of position, he makes poor tactical decisions, he doesn't understand the English game well enough, nor know how lucky he has been.

    However, Liverpool Football Club is more than the manager, and I think Man U fans may experience the same after a) Fergie goes b) the money goes. I prefer not to scoff and gloat but to salute good football, and hope for some kind of sea-change where 'fans' can see beyond their own short-term glory hunting - think about the bigger picture, and the hope that maybe half the Premier League will be fighting it out for the top 3/4, rather that the dull-as-fuck money race that we have now. Who cares who wins the league when it's all about who's the richest? Get some perspective.

    ReplyDelete
  27. The reason why all you Liverpool fans are so offended is because deep down you know what this gentleman has wrote to be true.

    If not, I think it's time for a reality check!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Two words for this author: inferiority complex.

    two decades of us millling over ye has reallly had an effect. Ye will need to produce four more mangers of fergie's quality into the future before ye can reach our level. Then ye will lose that annoying complex ye have towards us. good luck

    ReplyDelete
  29. Liverpool FC 1892-2010 RIP

    Great club, Great history, SHIT fans.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Liverpool FC - Still the most successful club in England.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Mighty manc, I think your getting confused between Liverpool fans and your Dad! does ur arse hole still bleed? Mancs are just tits, knowone likes mancs, your just big city sheep shaggers, wools with a big wheel. Get a grip and dont forget to lock your bedroom door at night.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Since the last time Liverpool won a League title (after a streak of 11 without reply from United) it's now been 20 years (89-90 to 09-10). Before United won their first title (of a streak of 11 without reply from Liverpool) it had been 25 years (66-67 to 92-93). However in the time Liverpool haven't won the league, they've still managed to win the Champions League and UEFA Cup. United didn't manage either. Both won the F.A. Cup 3 times during their baron league spells, while United only managed 1 League Cup win Liverpool have won it 3 times.

    ReplyDelete
  33. 750 mill in debt, your best players past thier sell buy date. You have fuck all to crow about.whats happened to Liverpool is going to inflict you. your debt repayments are huge,350 mill has been paid out to Bankers, advisors loans to your wonderfull owners ETC ETC. YES 350 MILLION SINCE THEY TOOK OVER. How long do you think this can go on before you start to slide down the greasy pole to medeocrity. If you are honest with yourself you know that the Current Man U team are not a great side.you rely so much on Rooney. 80 mill for Ronaldo, how much of that was reinvested back into the team Answer FUCK ALL.he was replaced with Valencia. Not a bad player but hes no Ronaldo. You lot are a season or two behind us welcome to the world of owners who dont give a fuck.You dont need money amymore to buy a premiership team. The only criteria you need is a good credit rating. So, you lot just carry on waving your yellow and green scarves all the way down the league.

    ReplyDelete
  34. the day your manc-ish title hopes died.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Does anyone else find it idiotic that the mancs will buy a yellow and green scarf in protest of how their teams being run, yet still buy tickets to see them play?
    I'm sure the Glaziers are really worried...

    ReplyDelete
  36. Yeah, United fans are complaining but Liverpool fans have a lot more to be worried about.
    Club is underachiving, owners are laying and the players, to be fair and not just blame Rafa, have faild to show caracter.

    Main thing is to get those owners aut, and a protest that is worth mentioning should be organized, like a massive walk-out in the half time, leaving the stand empty.
    It would send a message to the owners what would it be if they keep draging the club's sale for much longer.

    Not like Liverpool fans have had much to see in the game against Chelsea; or they enjoy seeing other team celebrating a title in Ainfield.

    ReplyDelete
  37. "Club is underachiving" - i think you'll find if you look at all of the facts in terms of money spent on transfers and wages Top 4 is overachieving for Liverpool. Much more so than the likes of Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, City, Spurs or even Villa

    ReplyDelete
  38. Think of this season as progression. Last year you weren't the best in Europe. This year you're unlikely to be the best in England and next you won't even be the best in Manchester. Or even just outside.

    ReplyDelete