Issue 67, Winter 2005
By Steve Kelly
What can I tell you? Every year it’s the same. They do say that some people suffer badly during the winter. The nights get darker and so they also just close in on themselves. And it’s well known that men in their mid-40’s do go a little ‘strange’! Or am I just trying to make myself sound interesting? In truth, it’s just the usual problem that 9-5’ers don’t have. It’s always been too easy for me to stick a record on or read a book. The Internet came along and things got even worse. It’s not as if things have been quiet around L4 lately – I’m never off that website forum – but it’s time to get serious about things. No, really!
It’s a pain in the neck getting people to write for you, for a number of reasons. First of all, you do feel like a cowboy rounding up cattle (if that’s not too unflattering an analogy!) and also underneath everything is a certain degree of cheek/guilt that you’re asking people to write for nothing, and frankly why should they? I’ve never fully understood it myself, but I’ve always been grateful for the efforts of those who don’t seem to mind too much. Better out than in, as our parents (usually our dads!) always used to say.
I want to get more issues out in future, so sometimes there’ll only be 44 pages. My New Year’s resolution was to produce a page a day during the season, and even with the newspaper column to complete that should still leave enough for six issues.
What a topsy-turvy season it’s been already. If Benitez had any doubts about what he was letting himself in for, he’s in no doubt now. There are uncanny similarities to the early days of Houllier. This is another decent man that the media should be holding up as an example for the others to follow, but he’s been stabbed in the back so often because he’s not one to hit back or nurse a grudge - so the cowardly fucks just kick harder. The reaction to Burnley and Southampton was totally insane, made worse by respected figures like Hansen taking shots at us too. Anyone with an ounce of fairness knows what a task Rafa has been given, and he’s mostly dealt with it okay. He’s made many mistakes, but that’s only to be expected. Those who know anything about the game weren’t expecting too much this season anyway, but the injuries and referees have made things even more difficult. They’re now trying to make out he’s using mind games on Moyes, which is even more bollocks really.
There’s been all kinds of nonsense about money, investment and the like. You know my stance on the matter: that since Liverpool appointed a chairman who wanted to buy his way out of trouble, we’ve got further and further away from the title. We have lost our expertise, our eye for a good player - and you can’t buy it back. If fans really want to whine about “lack of funds”, they’re deluded. Cisse, Alonso, Morientes, Garcia – thirty seven million pounds on FOUR players! Does anyone seriously believe that we need even more expenditure?
As for Parry, he’s really getting on my nerves now. People may say the “pimp” remark in the diary is a ‘joke’ too far, and I’m inclined to agree with you. I left it in as an expression of the very real unease many of us feel about the direction in which he’s taking our club. This is a man who seems to think everything is up for sale now. It’s a sad day when you listen to supporters talking their way into a mercantile nightmare: “oh what difference does it make what the ground’s called, we’ll still call it Anfield” etc. The naivety is breathtaking, and Parry plays on it for all it’s worth. The same man says Gerrard is priceless but the name ‘Anfield’ isn’t. Words, for once, fail me.
In my diary analogy, I suppose that makes us whores so it doesn’t really work. Added to that, Rick doesn’t slap us around or feed us class A drugs. More’s the pity, with some of the rubbish we’ve had to watch since the last issue – but you get the feeling that if United, Chelsea or Arsenal did that to their fans and made money, Uncle Rick’s only response would be “wow –that’s interesting”. Take Sky’s money whenever it’s offered, but be warned. If you think that 60,000 capacity will be needed more than twice a year, you’re out of your mind.
The recent fiasco with cup final tickets is another amazing example of how incompetent this club has become. They need that cash injection every summer from the season ticket holders – but now that £500 up front doesn’t even get you the improbable perk of a seat at Cardiff any more. With some of the inconvenience and cost of coming to Anfield, many will just give those tickets up. The three home games with Portsmouth in 2004 should have been a wake-up call – but the Notre Dame bells couldn’t awake Moores from his stupor.
It’s interesting to see Everton where they are. Local rivalry aside, I still don’t expect it to last beyond this season (and to be fair I didn’t when Ipswich were up there four years ago) but here’s an example of a club punching way above its own weight. Liverpool have punched way below their own considerable weight for years, and all the money in the world isn’t going to change that. It’ll just add more weight. Foreman v Ali, anybody?
If I were picking a representative team for our last ten years, it would include 5 of the ‘Academy’ lads straight away. Then any 5 out of Hyypia, Henchoz, James, Jones, Babbel, McAllister, Riise, Berger, Baros etc from the rest of the players. Maybe Hamann would be the only big buy to get into it. The list of expensive flops, on the other hand, stretches out a mile and continues to do so. I’ll start to really believe in Rafa if he uncovers a ‘gem’ for £2m (no, not Josemi) – and it’s about time someone else came through from the Academy, surely?
So here’s the evidence on one side: Liverpool running a tight ship in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Trying to buy their way to success ever since. Every great player since costing nothing or very little. Arsenal under Wenger. United’s success under Ferguson and the slight decline ever since he started throwing their money all over the place. For me, it’s irrefutable. Rick Parry isn’t a stupid man, and I think he knows this too. So why is he still hawking the idea that we can simply sign a cheque to weave our way through our current woes?
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