Issue 63, Winter 2004
By Steve Kelly
I know, I know. Every winter it’s the same. You’re tired of reading it and I’m tired of writing it. My mum will be telling me that my real father was a dormouse! That would explain the irresistible urge to do absolutely nothing when it gets darker and colder. Needless to say, I am really really sorry about all of this. I’m not going to make any promises I can’t keep any more, but honestly I will try to knuckle down and try to provide a fanzine to be proud of on a more regular basis than I have been doing. One more for this season (mid-April) and then try to up the ante for 2004/05. As usual, I can’t do it without your help. I still get the ‘epics’ sent to me, but the short stuff nearly always tends to go on the Internet now. If you could all just save a ‘post’ or two and send them to me instead for the letters pages – that would be just sooper and luverly, darlink!
I realise the team isn’t helping all that much. It’s bad enough watching it, without having to think about it and write about it as well. That’s my excuse anyway, and I’d be a right two-face if I got sniffy about it being yours as well. I passed the point of no return with Gerard long ago, but obviously he’s still here. The quandary of what to talk about gets worse the longer he stays. It’s all been said, hasn’t it? When you’re on public transport and someone starts making a noise like a fire engine, you’ll see everyone looking out of the window or inspecting their fingernails or burying themselves even deeper into their book or their newspaper. It’s a bit like that with the Reds: we’re all looking at something else, pretending that whatever is going spectacularly wrong isn’t actually happening at all.
Of course, we’ve got to go to these games and give the players all the support we can. Rick Parry’s got a bloody cheek when he says things like "we’re sixth from top, not sixth from bottom", but I suppose that’s how a lot of fans deal with it. It ain’t that bad………no, really. And don’t you know there’s always someone worse off than yourself (hello there, blues!). Things don’t seem to be going too smoothly for the Mancs either (Special Agent Magnier owns a horse called you’llneverwalkalone, incidentally) but ultimately that’s of little consolation. We’re doing better than the shite – whoopee doo dah. And whatever woes befall United, they still seem to win matches.
Any stupid little thing seems to derail Liverpool these days. I know there’s been injuries but we weren’t exactly pulling up trees before that, were we? And the abandonment of what laughably passed itself off as a ‘new attacking style’ at Newcastle was predictable. When you see us play the likes of Yeovil (Yeovil, for Christ’s sake) and we’re containing them, waiting for them to run out of steam, I don’t care if we do eventually win – it’s humiliating. Dragging everyone back and protecting a one-goal lead against Wolves? That’s where we now find ourselves – and we can’t even do that right. Tell me that’s what we all signed up for when Gerard walked through the Shankly Gates in 1998, because I know full well that it isn’t.
Yes, we played some good stuff against Newcastle Everton and Bolton (to a degree), but our finishing must be the worst in the division. If we drop more points playing that way, it’ll soon be back to the grind and you know it. That’s all this manager knows. His aptitude for creative, attacking, passing football has almost vanished. We weren’t exactly cavalier in 2001, but there was more than a hint of good things to come. It’s all been a huge disappointment since. In effect, he’s asking for another period of transition while HE gets to grips with a whole new outlook on the game.
Meanwhile, he still comes out with one steaming pile of shite after another. I’m fed up of hearing about goal attempts, injuries or his spoilt-brat row with O’Neill. His post-derby comments about British managers would be called xenophobic if they were aimed at him. Imagine Pleat or Jones saying "what do you expect – he’s French!". We’d be up in arms and rightly so. The fact that he was whinging after the previous two league games (about Rennie and Knight) wasn’t going to shut him up. It never does, and seemingly nothing can stem Le Flow. He’s no sooner thought it than he’s said it, and if that’s indicative of the care that’s going into our football no wonder we’re struggling. It’s the middle of February, and we’re still waiting for our tenth league win. It’s scandalous.
It’s okay people saying we should keep a united front, get to the end of the season, get this ‘achievable’ fourth place (which is looking more and more like a booby prize – we may even get it with less than 60 points) and make some changes then. The biggest fear of the fans on my side of the argument is that fourth place WILL save him. I’ve no confidence at all in David Moores; his AGM shellacking has been a long time coming. He kept Morgan at arm’s length for years (the deals with Granada raised eyebrows as well as millions) but there’s no hiding place now. Souness? Kept too long. Evans? Kept too long. Houllier? We’ll find out soon enough, but don’t hold your breath for a revival.
I’ve got a few things to get into the next issue, especially an update on the HJC and their fine work. Thanks to Robbie Ashcroft, it looks like we’ll be getting more stuff on the fight for Justice and the various ways you can help. I’m not selling the TTW&R back issues through them after all. After a couple of months, no money came in whatsoever and I realised it was actually a bit of an empty gesture on my part. I’ll be getting money to the HJC by another route, and hopefully you will too. I boycotted Stamford Bridge this season, and the price I would normally have given Greedy Git Bates went to the HJC. You don’t have to give that much, but every little helps. Pop into the shop on match day, they’ve got some nice stuff in there.
See you all again in April – and that’s a promise!
|
