Festive fun in short supply

SO it’s come to this, urging Arsenal to victory so that Aston Villa can drop points.

Last night, I was hoping Villa would be equally generous. There was a time, and not that long ago either, when I expected Liverpool to fend for themselves on a ground where they hadn’t lost for 11 years, but there’s a depressing ‘despite us’ feel to the club on almost every level nowadays.

When Manchester City think they can use us as a massive decoy for the bloodhounds you know there’s turmoil. Gary Cook’s artless inferences about Mancini ensured that Liverpool supporters can add another club to its lengthening list of despicables.

While our owners are cowering, Rafa moves in mysterious ways and a brittle (in body and spirit) team lurches from one humiliation to another, fans aren’t exactly covering themselves in glory either.

The scapegoat list grows, matches are deathly quiet unless there’s a bad pass and then you’re deafened, but there’s also a bewildering acceptance of our fate.

This happened in 2003 when Houllier struggled and Chelsea hooked their sugar dadski. There was constant whinging about spending and the freakishness of other clubs’ wages. City are on the brink of being elevated to a team that will (not ‘may’) overtake us.

The next time someone wants to eulogise Shankly, spare me. He’d be appalled at such nonsense. At some stage you have to accept what you have and fight back.

But no, we squabble on. After the surrender at Pompey, outsiders committed to commotion had their Christmas early, and Gerrard as usual was their chosen target.

We can become cantankerous about manipulators, but when Rafa makes himself a ‘perfect’ target and guarantees fourth place he’s a magnet for mischief.

It’s a headline writer’s job to create chaos where none existed. Manager in ‘Talks to Off-Form Captain’ shocker! One miscreant had him on the “warpath” with Mick McCarthy for surrendering at Old Trafford, which made Rafa sound doubly cracked for thinking the league’s summit was any of his concern.

The actual quote? “I will talk to him about it.” Not exactly Henry V on St Crispin’s Day, is it? But the vulnerable are always bullied, that’s life. We may redden at the words “two-man team” but that’s the preconception and therefore the one jugular the media keeps slashing at.

At least Gerrard scored. Torres was watched equally closely during the Wolves match, and not just by aggressive defenders. I’m never quite sure if he is being assaulted or takes theatrics to a whole new level. I do know his body language could make a sailor blush.

It was a frustrating first half, starting well and deteriorating rapidly with errors increasing as Wolves showed a smidgen of ambition and exposed our fragility.

The red card changed everything. Lucas can at least emulate Alonso in one department. He was pushed but he sure made a meal of it. And perhaps Reina should not have raced down the pitch either, but it shows how weak we are when the press focus on all that and not on what might have been one of the most scandalous decisions of the season had it stood.

Nobody mentioned Berra, happily accepting a yellow for an incident he was nowhere near. Everyone chuckled about Marriner, but without Liverpudlain protests he’d have got away with an extremely suspicious decision. No one came out of it with much credit.

We eventually make the breakthrough and the Kop starts singing “Ra-fa, Ra-fy-el”. When we got another they began the matador chant for every pass and told Wolves’ fans they were going down. The away end at Anfield never changes, apart from the colours; same old checklist of identikit drivel, it wears you down after a while so the occasional stoop to their level can be forgiven. The team, now that’s another matter.