Editorial
By Steve Kelly
From Issue 52, Summer 2001
Thank God that's over and done with. That was
one of the worst close seasons ever. Since TTW&R
started, there have been quiet, almost idyllic
summers spent happy in the knowledge that there
wasn't going to be any more football for 3 months.
As I stood on County Road, on that memorable Sunday,
watching the triumphant Treble Winners disappear
into the distance (to be greeted by yet another
few hundred thousand jubilant fans) a great emptiness
descended. The sheer excitement of the preceding
few weeks had produced a staggering high, and
the comedown was inevitably going to be painful
- but this was horrible. What the hell was I going
to do for three months?
Of course there was a fanzine to put together,
but even that proved difficult. For the first
time since I started doing this, I couldn't produce
a word. Let's not get all pretentious and call
it writer's block. It could just mean that my
own 'talent' is limited to being sparked off on
a rant by torment, failure and gross underachievement.
Without such inspiration (damn that Houllier),
I just haven't been able to get going at all.
Hopefully, once the season begins, things will
be as bad as ever. I'm joking - honest! I'm immensely
grateful to those people who wrote in or sent
e-mails during the summer, as without them you
wouldn't be reading this. So many wrote in that
half the next fanzine is already written, so apologies
to those whose stuff isn't in here. I can assure
you all that your exclusion was not a "quality
judgement" of any kind. It helps if you read
this issue and number 53 (which I want to bring
out as quickly as possible) as two halves of the
same enormous 'Treble special' fanzine. A season
like 2000/2001 simply cannot be dispatched in
a mere 48 pages. What a time it was - and what
a time we had! I'm so thrilled for the younger
fans, who can now listen to old farts waffling
on about "when we won this" and "when
we won that" with patience and (best of all)
understanding. They have their own success to
savour, after a decade in which it hasn't been
that easy to keep the faith.
But now we have to go through it all again, and
all that success counts for nothing once 2001/2002
gets under way. Nobody has ever accused this particular
fanzine editor of being optimistic! Even so, there
has been the odd occasion when anyone could understood
why Liverpool fans were getting so worked up.
1996 was the last time we really thought they
were going to get back on top of the pile, but
there is something a little bit different this
time. All the doubters from the other clubs may
well be right, we may just be witnessing another
false dawn - although the light from it has never
been as bright as this. What they cannot do is
convince any Liverpool fan (including arch-pessimists
like me) that there is no justification for our
optimism. The purchases of Veron and Van Nistelrooy
at the Theatre of Dregs have fair put the wind
up some supporters, and have reinforced the most
unfair of comparisons; the Liverpool of 2001 with
the United of 2001.
The much more realistic comparison is that between
Liverpool now and United in 1992. That way, things
look a little better. Ferguson was given cash
to spend in 1989, and he won the FA Cup, a minor
European trophy and the League Cup in three years;
Houllier has done it in two. Ferguson was forced
to rein in a perception of United as a drinking
club, forcing certain players to leave as a result
and stamping his own authority on the club; isn't
that exactly what Houllier has done with the 'Spice
Boys'? Ferguson installed a youth policy, in which
the strains and stresses of a transfer market
out of control could be tempered by talented,
young, free players; Houllier already had this
at his disposal and the Academy is fully operational.
Ferguson came 13th, 6th and then second; Houllier's
first two seasons have produced fourth and third
places. We have improved our league position,
and (like United between 1990 and 1992) used the
cup football to make ourselves extremely difficult
to beat. If there were any supporters entitled
to be optimistic during the summer, then surely
it was us?
Of course, that's fine as far as it goes. We do
have to compete with the United of 2001, like
everybody else, but it has taken their manager
15 years to get them into such a prominent position.
Houllier stands absolutely no chance of achieving
such a dominance in the time most fans want to
give him to complete such a turnaround. All he
can really do is keep improving Liverpool's side
and Liverpool's squad, and see where that takes
us. United were helped enormously by the virtual
surrender, via self-inflicted wounds, of the three
clubs that had dominated the league championship
before them; Everton, Arsenal and especially Liverpool.
Leeds and Blackburn were only one-offs, and Arsenal
returned to do battle at the top again. Now it's
time to see if we can rejoin the race, but even
if we do we're hardly likely to be aided by self-destruction
at Old Trafford. Not yet, anyway. I couldn't honestly
define "improvement" for us at the moment,
but I'll be more than happy if we can remove the
doubts. Despite the cups and despite third place,
people still don't fully rate our team - some
of us are Reds. We'll have had a good season if
as many doubts as possible have been erased, even
amongst the most cynical fans. Another of those
magical cup runs wouldn't hurt, either.
Although I may be able to make amends in 53, I
must apologise for the absence of articles on
Billy Liddell and Tom Saunders. With the latter,
I will say once again that it is virtually impossible
for supporters to write with any insight or detail
about back room staff. We can repeat what others
have written in more learned works, but that's
not something I like to do. It goes without saying
that Tom's contribution to LFC was considered
to be immense by every manager he worked for,
and that's more than good enough for me. With
King Billy, the problem is different. I was in
the cradle when he retired, so I cannot write
with conviction on his career or his importance
to Liverpool FC. It would be far better if someone
from an earlier generation could write in to let
us know how much he meant, but sadly no one has
yet. I'd be more than happy to put that right
in issue 53.
No really big transfer news to speak of, the ground
move debate is curiously quiet (apart from Speke
being discounted, which is excellent news) and
our CL spot is still not clinched. Maybe all that
will change in the few weeks between this issue
and the next? Even if it doesn't, I can still
print plenty of crowing about last season. Did
I mention we won the treble? Yeah? Ah well, it
won't hurt mentioning it again!
Steven Steven Steven (all Trebled up)
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