Editorial
By Steve Kelly
From Issue 48, Autumn 2000
I'm not sure what to make of this issue. I'm
feeling a bit iffy about it, because there are
certain things that might seem tacky or tasteless.
I started TTW&R after Hillsborough, so I've
always walked a very thin line between sympathy,
tact - and the sick sense of humour I've got.
Sometimes that line is crossed and even after
eleven years I still haven't got the hang of it
yet. Maybe I never will? The Victoria Adams joke
on page one may be diluted somewhat by the fact
(a) she's okay now (b) the new Andrew Morton book
casts doubt on whether the pair ever tell the
truth about anything and can even spin a kidnap
yarn in order to get the luvverly David off a
driving ban, but now I've heard about Gary McAllister's
wife and I'm wondering if I've done the right
thing. I'm fully aware that meningitis is not
funny, but if I did the fanzine on the premise
of offending nobody I don't think anyone would
give a toss about it. As ever, I'd be interested
in other views on the subject.
Sorry there's little or no stuff on Hillsborough,
but I asked both groups for a progress report
on their activities and their views on the trial
and have received very little. That could be down
to the e-mail fuck-up, or more likely that things
have become so complicated that they scarcely
had time to write for me, which is fair enough.
The legal action against the HJC's web site has
resulted in new levels of recrimination between
both sides, making it doubly difficult for outsiders
like myself to get a handle on what's actually
going on. I've always felt that an army divided
is an army defeated, but there is still more concentration
on differences than similarities (Bettison, for
example). It's been said that I probably receive
nothing from the Support Group because I'm firmly
in the HJC camp. That isn't so, but a number of
things have made me lean towards them. Firstly,
they were fully supportive (and instrumental in
the success) of the boycott, which I thought was
extremely important - and how great is it to know
that LFC will not have to visit those bastards
for a while, the way things are going for them
? Cue dodgy FA Cup draw. I also think the HJC
are being blanked out in quite a shameful way.
The Support Group gets a letter in the Echo, but
the HJC's response doesn't get printed, they're
in the programme and the HJC isn't, the club will
not acknowledge their existence. Whatever you
may think of them, that sort of banishment is
simply WRONG. They represent people who have suffered
just as much as anyone else and for their own
club to turn its back on them makes me sick to
my stomach. As for this legal action there's some
grey area about what the HFSG are actually objecting
to, but I do wonder what people who went to the
Justice concert and bought the CD would have said
or done back then if they'd known some of their
money would go towards legal action against other
bereaved families? Hopefully, there'll be a clearer
picture in TTW&R 49 - but I wouldn't bet on
it.
No, I've not been avoiding any mention of the
team on purpose, although that would be entirely
understandable. There was a view from last season
that Houllier had drawn the basic sketch of the
team and that 2000/01 would be the year for 'colouring
it in'. Not from what I've seen so far. It's been
very drab fare. One regular writer damns GH with
the worst Red insult of all - another Souness.
He has a point. Did we really need SIX new players,
based on our exploits last season? What is going
on with the players' fitness? They're picking
up stupid niggly knocks or they're running out
of steam after an hour. Players arrive with reputations
for good play and work-rate, yet they're here
for two months and suddenly they look fat slow
and ponderous (the words 'Barmby' and 'Sunderland'
occur to me here for some reason or other). More
than half our goals against have come in the final
third of games - that's if the game is actually
still a contest, which Chelsea clearly wasn't.
Souness used to make great play of pointing his
finger at the 'unlucky' injuries or a poor ref's
performance - pointing it in every direction but
his own, in fact. His away record was also an
absolute shambles, and if all of the above isn't
enough to set alarm bells ringing then you must
be one cool customer.
But what's the solution? Get rid of the manager
and start all over again? That would hardly make
sense. The club has invested very heavily in Houllier's
judgement, even going so far as to plan a 70,000
stadium based on the success Gerard will bring
to Anfield. Selling fanzines after games gives
you a little insight into what fans are saying
about the club and the team, and Sunderland was
particularly illuminating. Quite a few people
went past saying "if they think 70,000 will
go and watch that, they must be crackers".
I didn't hang around after Bucharest long enough
to sample any of the epithets being uttered after
that game, but I suspect they weren't much better!
We started poorly last season of course, but once
we were written off the team seemed to relax and
get some good results. As soon as the pressure
came back, with a top 3 place beckoning, they
blew it. The trouble with LFC 2000, just like
the Mancs in the 80's, is that it doesn't take
much to send everyone gung-ho. A few wins and
the usual suspects will start beating their chests
and throwing "told you so"'s around
like confetti. It's an almost intolerable burden
for Houllier, but I'm afraid that's the way it
is. It's a very demanding job, and there's only
one way we'll know if he's the right man - when
we succeed.
I'm not all that sure if I wouldn't mind a little
air being taken out of this club. When you discover
that the 98/99 team (i.e. pre Houllier spending
spree) earned 80% of the club's turnover - so
it must be more now - you just feel this is all
going to end in tears. The REAL revolution would
be to destroy everything and start again from
scratch. No one's saying the players can't earn
a good living, but I've had it up to here with
this "short career" shite. When did
it become law that footballers only have to work
until they're 35? Then you get a 'performance'
like Stamford Bridge and you think "what
are we getting in return?". Precious little
at the moment, but that could all change I suppose.
I just get the feeling there are going to be even
more debates about the club's future before this
season is over.
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