Apocalypse soon but Benitez digging in
He was ahead of his time. The same fans who proclaimed ‘In Gerard We Trust’ have simply changed one word and carried on regardless, oblivious to the mess we’re in.
Ordinarily a draw against Lyon would not be sniffed at, but these are no ordinary times. Previous results make us skittish and reawaken the spectre of The Debt that haunts us. We’d happily forego the pleasure of European knockout for one year, were it not for the financial precipice we are teetering towards.
Friends phone and e-mail with the same message; they just want to talk about players, results and tactics. You know, The Match.
Sadly, accountancy courses for supporters are the next stage of our ‘evolution’. For now we can still babble about Babel, insinuate about Insua and something phonetically unpleasant in Greek about Kyrgiakos.
We played well on the whole; perhaps Lyon flattered to deceive at Anfield. The almost obligatory late gift undid much of the good work but as per usual the red week was dominated by rumour, agenda and gossip. I’m so preoccupied with reading between journalistic lines I often ignore the actual text! Some things simply don’t compute. Christian Purslow has backed Rafa publicly on several occasions. Henry Winter has also been kissing our new MD’s backside to an absurd degree, yet his take on Benitez becomes ever surlier and he even proclaimed we CAN afford to sack Rafa.
The Times’ Matt Dickinson wasted an entire article on “whispers” about Dalglish grabbing the managerial reins in mid-season.
Then the Yank propaganda machine moved into overdrive. There’d be money for new players in January, the naming rights for a stadium that’ll never exist will somehow rake in untold riches and Hicks won’t be selling Gerrard and Torres to compensate for any Champions League shortfall. Hurrah! What was that line in ‘Apocalypse Now’; “the bullshit piled up so fast you needed wings to rise above it”?
I’d start flapping if I were you.
Between L4 and Cambodia, Rafa probably wishes he were 75 klicks above the Do Lung Bridge. At least the Khmer Rouge put you out of your misery quickly.
I thought his little quotation from our anthem was rather charming, endearing even. When he comes to work wearing a wimple and singing ‘Climb Every Mountain’ that’ll be the time to start worrying.
He’s still got his little gophers spreading the gospel, though parts of it now sound desperate. There’s a line now about press xenophobia, with bewildering name-checks for Grant, Scolari and even (hilariously) Ramos.
The latest bout of Wenger Worship could hardly have come at a worse time then, but they type on regardless. Neat trick, with fistfuls of straw…
Now any actual supporter that claims Rafa isn’t up to the job is of course guilty by association. Since the team has been choc full o’ foreigners for a decade light work was made of such nonsense.
The other ‘side’ are just as bad, every decision thrashed to within an inch of its life. Torres’ substitution created the equaliser in France? Get a grip. As ever there was only one cure for all our ills – and that was to win some football matches. Crazy admittedly, but it has been known to work. One wonders when we’re going to start.
We did everything we could against Birmingham in fairness, N’gog going that extra yard and looking idiotic in the process, but when do you draw the line? There was the usual incompetence at set pieces, and sheer arrogance for their second, as if to say “we haven’t heard of you, so you can’t harm us from there”. As well as we played in attack it’s worthless once you’ve shot yourself in the foot.
Which we may as well be doing anyway. We’re dropping like flies, and again you have to wonder where bad luck ends and fitness flaws begin.
At the end one of the mechanised advertising boards read “Visit Spain”. I wish I had a laugh left in me.
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