Lofty standing leaves Rafa holding all aces

RATIONALISATION, how could football live without it?

Let’s get one thing clear; it wasn’t a penalty. As soon as fans say “weeeell, technically” you’re deafened by the scrunch of a million straws clutched.

Then there’s the “should have had one earlier” ploy, which interestingly does not appear in the laws of the game.

Finally you’re subjected to the “everyone else is diving all over the place, why should we be the only ones who play fair” cop-out.

But I keep forgetting that Steven Gerrard is English and therefore does not dive. I’ve made my share of complaints about Ronaldo and the numerous victims of the Stamford Bridge Sniper, but I’ll not waste my breath from now on.

It’s true our illustrious captain never uses his thespian wiles to get other players sent off, but that’s scant consolation for anyone who ever believed in a moral code within football. Even approaching the 50-year mark I’ve a naive streak a mile wide.

Atletico were tidy yet unadventurous, still marking the beginning of the next phase of the Reds’ development under Rafa.

With such a good start we are now preparing to welcome teams that “park the bus”, in the two-faced parlance of The Special One. The Portsmouth and Atletico games were not an auspicious start.

Our set pieces have been poor for a while, but we did get a few chances all of which fell to the increasingly bewildered Agger. The penalty was the latest in a long line of get-out-of-jail cards.

We have missed Torres and there’s little point in denying it, despite Robbie’s brace against an Albion side heading straight back where they came from. It still didn’t earn him a full game! It’s beyond a joke now.

But here I am carping from the top of the table. Friends have accused me of mentioning Houllier’s “blip” season too often. Fair enough. I believe the phrase is “scarred for life”.

It was interesting to read in two newspapers (one from a sussed local journo who should know better) that this is Liverpool’s best start to a Premier League campaign.

It isn’t, Houllier’s was. Perhaps, like a repressed memory, it will take years of therapy to recall that fateful time without the subsequent cerebral aftershock caused by the 11 winless games that followed.

It was round about this point in the calendar that le train came off les rails for our increasingly bewildered French mastermind, so my guard’s staying up until such time as this team displays the required staying power.

Saturday was a decent enough start though the Baggies were no threat whatsoever. They lacked the organisation, resilience and physique of a Stoke for example. Arsene Wenger will no doubt love them. After criticising my team for woeful finishing I should have put money on three goals being scored with the player’s weaker foot!

We’ve often had to grind our teeth when United have lost, only for them to get two or three appetisingly ‘easy’ fixtures to aid recovery. Now we have a similar opportunity it would be criminal to waste it. The sound of Ferguson bleating on the subject ought to provide further sustenance.

So of course from such a position of strength Rafa’s contract negotiations are back in the spotlight. It was wishful thinking to expect them to vanish till a more convenient time, but I did say I was naive.

There are conflicting stories, one with the owners organising their exit strategy and happily granting Benitez his every wish since it won’t be their problem for much longer. “Five years? Hell buddy, make it 20 for all I care!”

And the other is of the Yanks digging their heels in and, like my good self, wanting guarantees that the current run is more than a blip in reverse. A swift resolution is unlikely, if past shenanigans count for anything. Cynics will check the results from the continent, see which major clubs are struggling and expect increasingly short odds on “Rafa Linked” headlines. That’s what usually happens.

If things continue to improve the manager could name his own price and terms. He’s on a pedestal now, even without a single serious title challenge. If we’re still top by February, canonisation may follow.

He could just carry on with the job and leave all this till later. The words “fat” and “chance” spring to mind.

* Steven Kelly For information on “Rotation, Rotation, Rotation: a season at Anfield”, visit www.ttwar.net