A few good results and all is forgotten
No sacking, no resignation, no one run out of town? You lose count of the times football does this to you. Sound and fury, signifying nothing as usual. It’s like a bad soap opera.
Betrayals and crises everywhere, then back to normal in an instant, then more chaos. The same old plots regurgitated.
And if you question reports like “sacking imminent” people tap their nose and wink, citing “behind the scenes talks” or saying, “wait and see, it’s still simmering”. Whatever.
I saw the fans’ protest march last Wednesday. All very noble of course, but I’m at an age where beer and warmth are addictive.
I’m afraid I didn’t join the on-line petition either.
Getting to be quite the company man! I wouldn’t sign anything that referred to Rafa as ‘the best since Paisley’.
You always see that ungrateful snub to Dalglish. It happened too often under Houllier too.
Am I the only Liverpool fan on the planet that hasn’t forgotten that press conference where Rafa gave the same answer 25 times, then touted for another job? Some fans’ reaction to the owners — basically one of “spend your money but keep your noses out” — has been incredibly naïve. I’ll bet it’s the same people who pleaded with Moores to sell in the first place.
The press had free rein. Once the floodgates open they can write anything and be believed.
Had aliens taken Liverpool over? Hence Rafa’s robotic repetition. The little green man inside him having acclimatisation problems perhaps.
Hicks was always the more voluble of the two since they ‘bought’ us. A link to Roma seems to have gone quiet, but if Rafa pipes up again and this guy thinks he’s John Wayne, something’s got to give. Mascherano might be the next battleground.
You hear things like everyone else, but I hate speculation and can happily wait for, y’know, ‘news’. Let the constant chitter-chatter wash over you.
All it does is highlight grievances. Heard the one about Rick Parry ‘forgetting’ to tell the owners Rafa’s transfer needs? It’s believable to those who bear a grudge after Athens and wanted Parry out anyway.
Didn’t Gerrard claim Parry also stalled on his contract after Istanbul? Ah, see? No smoke without fire, put two and two together, etc. All of it tiresome, because unless you’re on the inside you can’t know.
With mutiny in the air and jobs on the line it was hardly surprising there was anxiety on the pitch.
That would explain the players’ poor passing, although Porto’s technique helped highlight it.
I’d never say the ground was quiet but it wasn’t the widely predicted wall of sound. The Kop was noisy enough, but sat in the geriatrics stand it didn’t spark a similar flame of resistance elsewhere.
Perhaps as the oldest of the old school, they weren’t prepared to fully exonerate Benitez for his share of the blame after a week’s panic.
But if the manager needed ammunition in his funds war, he got it from Torres. He was surreal at Newcastle but against Porto and Bolton he produced the sort of finish that separates the special from the proficient.
While everyone else seemed ready to canonise Rafa, the old guard around me muttered about the time it took to get Crouch on. Never satisfied, overly critical, sullen — I’d found my spiritual home! Liverpool have scored 21 goals in the five games since that excruciating visit to Blackburn. We begged Rafa to unshackle his team and by God he has responded magnificently.
Winning cures all ills. If he wanted to paint the owners’ faces on his buttocks, then treat the press to the world’s creepiest ventriloquist act, he could probably get away with it now.
Bolton had roughed up United and certainly aren’t the manager’s favourite opposition, but they barely got a sniff on Sunday.
Can we look forward to a week’s peace and quiet then? Let’s hope so, but antagonising a filthy-rich employer isn’t something they’ll forget and your team cannot win forever. They can always bide their time.
Ask Jose Mourinho.
