Trip to graveyard does little for our paranoia

SO at what point did you suspect it would end in tears?

The first time Skrtel choked on Bale’s dust? The 10th time Carroll and Suarez have seemingly been reintroduced? Perhaps it was when Modric hit one out of the blue instead of into it, or when Agger was clutching whatever body part is hanging off this week? Adam being booked for his first foul? Our disallowed goal? Adam being sent off for his second foul?

Or maybe like me you scented tragedy the moment you got out of bed. That might just be old age, though.

You develop a sense for these things, and White Hart Lane is becoming a graveyard. Since Redknapp went there that’s five defeats. You have to listen to other Scousers whine about him being tactically inept and a media darling, generally Rafa’s lovelorn souls who seemingly despise any manager in gainful employment these days.

Things were going rather well, now we’re thrashing around for the instant cure. Throw a rock, hit a scapegoat.

Paranoia began last week with Kenny’s implication of conspiracy. A calm but ill-advised comment had hacks reaching for the hatchets.

What gets me is that the poison always begins in the broadsheets, not the tabloids, as if an ‘A’ Level granted one immunity from basic decency.

Referencing the man’s breakdown in 1991 is a new low even by their subterranean standards. You could see it coming though, as soon as Dalglish said it, Rafa’s so-called rant still fresh on their fangs with the chance of a new feeding frenzy.

But our message is always the same, albeit Chinese-whispered to death by the malicia; “we cannot win this; we will not be allowed to win this”.

It simply serves to make United (the obvious target) stronger, to a point where they now revel in it. It was stranger for Kenny to get involved, since Rafa at least had a team deservedly at the summit when he did so.

As Sunday demonstrated so painfully, there is lots of work to be done at Anfield. That said, ours was not a performance meriting eight yellow cards, a sinful overreaction from a referee almost as dazzled by Tottenham’s speed of thought and movement as we were.

Kenny didn’t have many options to counter Bale’s pace but Skrtel, ‘protected’ by Henderson, was surely snuck onto the top of the masterplan file by a Manc spy. Revenge for his daughter’s admirable sass to the purple-faced one on live TV.

Perhaps Redknapp has no real talent after all? Who needs tactics when your adversary makes such basic errors?

Kuyt wasn’t great at Stoke but you get work-rate and nuisance value from him if nothing else. Rafa was slaughtered for sticking El Zhar in front of our Slovakian sloth, but this was worse. It looks like Henderson is lolloping around wondering what the hell he’s supposed to be doing.

Adam is an idiot, but two fouls/two cards were indicative of an official eager to demonstrate he was not to be mesmerised by any Caledonian trickery. Not on this occasion, anyway.

We always move on from these rare beatings. They invariably have a bizarre twist; Hyypia off after a minute at you know where (and we’re asking Mike Riley for fairness!), Arsenal’s second 11 scoring six at Anfield; 4-0 at Chelsea when Cudicini was man of the match.

It’s hard to suppress a giggling fit at such moments. On Sunday there was nothing to do but swallow our medicine and (hopefully) get better.

*Steven Kelly