Singing the Blues an awful fate, but what alternative?

AS ONE half of arguably the bitterest rivalry in English football, next week’s fixtures possess the potential to open up a can of worms the size of a small planet.

Many believe, most of them hope, that United may struggle to add further titles in the forthcoming seasons.

Pride in our challenge last season was whittled to nothing by our superior vantage point being invaded by mill town dregs.

Dignity dictates that the official party line is “if we can’t win it then I don’t care who does” and that Terry and co are their equals in evil – but we’re fooling nobody.

While we’re in our current state of friction and fracas, it would be nice to be left with something in the vanity locker.

Yes, their European upheavals are all very amusing. One suspects Ferguson will resort to Kremlin-style doppelgangers before long in order to convince the world that he was or could ever be Paisley’s superior.

But as Shankly said, the league is our bread and butter, and history is just crumbs of comfort.

Lord knows the sight of Chelsea celebrating a season’s triumph in plain sight would normally have me rummaging around for an eyeball scoop, but the alternative? God, the alternative...

By the way, I’ll take all this back if Steve Bruce’s Sunderland do anything to United. I’ll fly my next column to Cork on the back of my favourite pet Piggles.

Fair play to the manager, (for once) reminding us what dignity is. There was plenty of opportunity for self-pity as the Reds took the Phileas Fogg route to Madrid, but he made the right noises about ignoring the “inconvenience”.

Carragher had a little squawk about it after we lost, but we’ve done Sunday/Wednesday in the Champions League before and no one quibbled.

Given our appalling away record, the result was bound to be (unfairly) bracketed with other travelling travails.

After Forlan’s dreadful goal (and boy, did that bring back unhappy memories) we had three good chances to equalise within 10 minutes.

I won’t bore you with another rant about the offside law, but once again it was outed for the archaic hindrance that it is. And I said so last season when we were the beneficiaries in the Vicente Calderon.

It felt like both teams settled quickly for the result, and we’ll know tomorrow whose complacency will haunt them.

One newspaper claimed Rafa will meet with Broughton soon, though opinion was divided over whether this involved the transfer budget or the manager’s pay-off.

The Juventus stories are gaining strength and credence. I hate to use the phrase ‘no smoke without fire’, a handy ruse for every nose-tapping muckraker, but you do feel he wants out now and wants paying for the ‘privilege’.

Which leads us into the same old cul de sac: they won’t sack him, he won’t walk.

So we plod on. Burnley was another candidate for worst first half of the season. You’d never wish harm on any player, but once Kuyt was replaced by Yossi there was suddenly a collection of players who all wanted to pass, move, take defenders on and shoot.

Of course a lucky goal works wonders too. We’ve been a fair weather team for a while, and against doomed opposition already resigned to their fate, it didn’t take much to pop that bubble.

Gerrard’s response was to make yapping gestures with his hands, ostensibly aimed at internet gossips who yet again can’t leave his private life alone.

It was admittedly curious that television edited these gestures out of their coverage, avoiding the need to explain further, but let’s just say Liverpool’s reputation as Rumour Central remains undiluted.

Aquilani was useful on a rare outing, emulating his star turn against, erm, Portsmouth. It’s going to take a lot more to destroy his status as worst transfer of the season, but there’s clearly some talent there.

In the rush to denounce Rafa’s high-profile signings, it almost goes unnoticed that he got Maxi for nothing. The lad gets stronger in every game, and it’s a shame he didn’t arrive sooner.

It makes the constant whinging about the chequebook all the more galling. For all of Johnson’s reputation there are some of us who’d have Arbeloa back in a heartbeat.

Maybe fourth place has gone for good, but we’ve quietly ratcheted up the goal difference so that’s one point we don’t have to claw back. To wipe the im from impossible we’d still have to beat Chelsea. Gulp...