By Danielle Warren
AS Paul Tomkins wrote in his piece “It’s Time To Move Forward As One,” we, as fans of Liverpool Football Club, need to find some kind of common ground at the moment. The petty squabbling and bickering that is eating away at Twitter as we speak is unhealthy, not just for the club, but for each fan’s individual well-being.
The emotional angst everyone is feeling is hard to put into words, because in reality, there’s nothing yet to talk about. So instead, we all decide that being at each other’s throats is better than just sensibly waiting and seeing what happens.
And I should know. I’m just as guilty of it as anyone.
But beyond the trivial Twitter and Liverpool forum disputes, the one noticeable thing among many supporters right now is the incredible hypocrisy I read and hear left and right. Don’t misunderstand, this is not meant as an attack on anyone specific, and again, I am also guilty of it, but at this moment in time, hypocrisy is rife among Liverpool fans.
Here’s the problem in a nutshell: As Liverpool fans, we don’t want the club and its nascent owners to dismiss and destroy “The Liverpool Way,” which means many things to many people, but most principally the conducting of the club’s business behind closed doors and the values and traditions that set this club apart from all others.
Yet, right now, almost everyone who preaches this “Liverpool Way” is exploding with rage at the owners’ reluctance to share any kind of developments and claims their interest in making Liverpool a soundly-run business spells death for any kind of tradition the club treasures.
So which is it?
Conduct business professionally and courteously in private, or tell the media and fans of every movement before it’s been finalized?
Look for ways of making the money that is needed to make the club successful and put in place a structure that will develop for years to come, or hold on to tradition and refuse any kind of opportunity to progress and move forward?
As much as I’m dying to know what’s going on, the only reasonable way to resolve the appointments Liverpool need to make right now is to do so in private, and only release news when everything is finalized and official.
Even though fans want to know everything, many would be shouting from the rooftops if news was constantly leaked, claiming that it makes the club look stupid for not having the business acumen to conduct their business in private.
But this is just one of the many hypocritical stances taken by Liverpool fans at the moment. The hypocrisies that have really been making my head hurt for months are the modern versus traditional, and money and Champions League versus trophies.
Let’s get one thing straight and out in the open right now. There is no ONE right answer. This is where black and white blurs into a pale shade of gray. This is the subjective side of football where it really just depends on what each individual feels is more important to them.
So, just as those who want “The Liverpool Way” intact, but also want to know everything that’s involved in FSG’s process of filling the recent vacant positions at the club, there are also many fans who scream loud and clear about needing the money to compete for trophies and Champions League places, but scoff just as loudly when FSG find intelligent, and sustainable ways of obtaining that money.
For example, I understand many people’s reluctance to embrace the upcoming behind-the-scenes documentary about Liverpool, but in the US, these types of shows are extremely popular and will reach a lot of people who could be potential new fans of the club.
And since most big clubs in Europe are targeting the markets in the US and Asia, it makes perfect sense to move in this direction to gain more fans in these parts of the world.
Whether it is a success or not, only time will tell. But the point is that FSG are looking for new and broader ways to expand Liverpool as a brand around the world to earn the money that supporters so eagerly crave so we can buy the best players and be as competitive as possible.
Then there is the trophies versus 4th place debate. This one has been raging for a long time, but was brought into clear focus this season as Liverpool were on course to win 2 domestic trophies, but miss out on Champions League qualification. (Although this season was strange in that 4th place has not garnered a coveted CL spot. I feel for Spurs as that could have easily been us hitting our target and still missing out).
Fans have been debating all across the world, on Twitter, on forums and blogs, and podcasts. Aren’t clubs supposed to win trophies? And more importantly, doesn’t Liverpool exist to win trophies?
The answer is complicated because of the money from the Champions League that now erodes the traditional game. Yes, winning trophies is what any club should aim for. But at the same time, clubs like Liverpool need the money from the Champions League to compete for the best players, and also the most desired trophy.
So what’s the right answer? Again, there isn’t one. Many fans think the fondest memories and best experiences with the club are when we win trophies.
Those who made it to Wembley three times this season wouldn’t trade that for 4th place in the league. But, there are many fans who would have happily traded those cup runs for 4th, or should I say, 3rd.
Ideally, we all want both. But as Chelsea have proven, even with an enormous and expensively assembled squad, it’s difficult to mount a top four challenge while also maintaining great cup runs.
That debate will continue to rage on. But the major hypocrisy, the one that absolutely makes my head spin, is that of the modern versus traditional fight to the death (at least, that’s how some make it out to be).
I was crushed to see Dalglish leave the club. I felt he deserved another season, and I truly believed he could take the club forward. But FSG decided it wasn’t to be. And many believe his sacking was the death knell of “The Liverpool Way” and all things proud and honorable about being a Liverpool fan.
While I don’t like that Dalglish was sacked, somewhat coldly by FSG, I can also understand why they did it. And to me, it is in no way symbolic of the Liverpool we all know and love dying.
Yes, something died that day and it was simply Dalglish’s job. His love for Liverpool isn’t going anywhere, and neither is the fans’ love for him. He bravely stepped in when Liverpool needed him, and he will continue to support the club for the rest of his life.
But the hyperbole of some to state that his sacking meant that Liverpool have completely and irreversibly lost its heart and soul is just too much. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.
The bottom line is that fans want the club to move forward, earn money, compete with the best, and win the best trophies. Yet the fans also want the club to stay rooted in its traditions without any kind of compromise, to have money without wanting to earn it from new and different ventures, and to compete for and win trophies, but not at the expense of getting in the Champions League.
Basically, the fans want to compete with the best and want oodles of money to spend on the highest quality players. But we also want to win by keeping our integrity in tact. And apparently to some, the owners are destroying the Liverpool legacy and its integrity by having the audacity to try and run the club as a successful business in order to buy those top players and win the trophies the fans want so badly.
We can’t have it both ways.
You can’t just say, we want the money, but don’t want to change anything about the club.
In order for the club to progress, things need to change. But this doesn’t necessarily have to be a negative thing as so many are making it out to be.
For many fans, it doesn’t seem possible that we can move forward into the future while keeping our core values in tact.
A future, I might add, that despite fans’ protestations, needs money to compete and win. But that is simply not the case.
We need to embrace the new with the old, combine the traditions with the modern ambition. Merge money and soul as one so that the club can maintain its status as one of the elite, while also holding onto all the things and people that have made it what it is.
To my fellow Liverpool fans, the message is simple. We cannot have it both ways. We cannot crave the money to make us successful, but then refuse it because earning it would mean we’re not Liverpool any more. But then hate the fact that we aren’t successful because we’re not seeking that money that would make us successful and on and on and on. This is truly the height of hypocrisy and it is everywhere among Liverpool supporters at the moment.
Maybe I’m naive, but I believe that “The Liverpool Way” and the modern game, which, like it or not, makes it absolutely necessary to have money to win, can co-exist.
We are and always will be Liverpool Football Club.
No owners, managers, or players will ever change that. I love Liverpool, and at the end of the day, I want this club to be as successful as it possibly can be.
If you think it can’t be without losing its identity, then you’re wrong. Because we, the fans, hold the identity of this club. And if I’m not mistaken, despite the arguments, hysteria, and hypocrisy, we all want what’s best for Liverpool, now and always.
You can read articles by Danielle as Soccerlens or follow here on Twitter
Refreshingly calm appraisal of our current travails as LFC fans Danielle. It really is time for patience because what we are witnessing is a new era…one we hope will bring Liverpool Football Club back to the status it had.
The Liverpool way died the minute Hicks and Gillett walked through the door. In a way it is what we needed, for too long Liverpool have lived in the past so reluctant to accept change, living by the “Liverpool Way”, Hicks and Gillett dragged us kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Football is a business now no matter what us fans think, FSG did not buy LFC for sentimental reasons, they bought us to make money, they are business men and they will run the club how they like, they paid 300 million pounds for that privelage, that will mean they will not bow to fans pressure. Liverpool fans need to find a way to blend the past and the future the way United do or we will continue to be left behind
A good read Danielle and a perfect message.
I haven’t been on Twitter for quite some time, not out of any need to stay away from the hysteria but I’ve just had better things to do with my time.
It has been concerning to discover that many LFC fans have been at each others throats. Surely, at this time more than any other we really must be patient and stand together.
As you put it: “Because we, the fans, hold the identity of this club. And if I’m not mistaken, despite the arguments, hysteria, and hypocrisy, we all want what’s best for Liverpool, now and always.”
Well said.
Agree with the majority of this. Normally I find that I disagree with a lot of what Danielle says but for me this is spot on.
I feel that when a club stops having success like it is used to, supporters tend to go through a process of redefining what it is that makes the club special. Arsenal have redefined what their success is as quality of football and their annual accounts.
Certain elements of our support have replaced the success we used to enjoy with “The Liverpool Way”. This mythical thing that gets regurgitated by superfans the second anybody has the temerity to hold an opinion different to theirs.
You regularly see people claiming they would rather be relegated than sell our soul, REALLY?
For those who think that business models have no part of Liverpool Football Club, the club was formed after a business dispute over(ironically) which business model the previous incarnation of the club should take.
Liverpool Football Club and football in general has been a business since its inception. How did Shanks sign Ron Yeats? Drove up to Motherwell with a wheelbarrow full of love and passion? No he spent money that the club had generated commercially.
Its very easy to quote Shanks as you try to resist change, but thank god the man himself was an innovator because if he only looked to the past (like a lot of people seem to be doing lately), well I imagine LFC would be a VERY different entity today.
Cheers Al, I’m glad we agree for once! Let’s hope it’s not the last time :)
You make some great points. I think the key for me is seeing the reluctance sometimes within English football to change any kind of “tradition” in the name of progress and making money. The problem is that like in many areas in life, money in football has become a dirty word. Perhaps there is an element of greed, no one denies that, but at the same time, football clubs ARE businesses and they are NOT charities. They should make money. Everyone should. Making money is not wrong, and if used in the correct ways, can only benefit a business and in this case, the businesses’ fans.
We have to find ways to move forward or we will get permanently left behind.
– You regularly see people claiming they would rather be relegated than sell our soul –
Really? i have never seen anyone say that, if you are going to have a go at ‘superfans’ (what the f*** is that by the way?) at least do it with a reasoned argument, the club is in a period of change and that causes stress to people who have supported the club there entire lives.
Danielle talks about fans wanting things done ‘the Liverpool way’ and then complaining that they don’t get to know everything that goes on.
NO, NO NO. that is not what they are saying at all.
Is it to much to ask that when a legend like Kenny is sacked that an explanation is given? that one of the owners could say something like. here is what has happened and this is why and this is what we are planning to do over this timeframe.
Instead we get a generic, statement with a bunch of platitudes about how great Kenny is and how grateful we are blah,blah blah.
Whether we like it or not we live in an age of 24 hr news coverage and that means fans get to read and watch BS about our beloved club from a hostile media.
This could have been mitigated with a simple statement from the owners.
Thankfully IMHO we seem to have appointed an excellent guy in Jed Cheng and our woeful communications may become a thing of the past.
Excellent piece Danielle, very well articulated. Several of LFC’s most public and vociferous supporters would do well to read it. Some of the stuff I’m reading from there on Twitter is horrendous.
Cheers JP
Quality work once more from The Anfield Wrap. Great job.
good article danielle. i found myself nodding in agreement all the way through it. in a nutshell LFC and some of its fans need to realise that this is not the 20th century anymore. things change and we all need to move on. FSG handling of kenny’s departure left a sour taste in the mouth, but if their vision for us leads to LFC building a new stadium and selling naming rights and other such issues that the traditionalist object to then so be it. if in time that brings back title challenges and victories, champions league qualification and victories, competing in the world club championship, LFC becoming once again the most feared football club in the land and throughout the world, then what does it matter what it is that FSG have to abandon from our past to make it happen.
LFC are falling behind its rivals. its no longer enough just to look at things on local or even a national scale. clubs like chelsea and man city have shown the way and if we cant necessarily get to there level of spending we can at least do our best not to fall too far behind them. as we stand now we are floundering and the gap in finance will only get bigger.
build a 60/70k seater stadium, sell naming rights, get the best kit deals and sponsorship available, bring in the best manager and players that money can buy and have scouts and coaches that enable us to bring through our own stars like barcelona. if they do that then thats as much as we can ask.
things need to change, everyone must surely agree with that. let FSG implement the things that they believe can take us forward. thats the future. the past was glorious, but its gone. get behind the new manager and lets see where we go from there.
Excellent piece Danielle, cheers. Personally, I just think some of the Liverpool fanbase need to be more patient.
As an example, Rafa Benitez was appointed 23 days after Gerard Houllier left. At present, Dalglish has only been gone for 8 days.
Was there such anxiety amongst the fanbase over appointment delays in 2004? Of course not.
True, there wasn’t Twitter to potentially drive hysteria in 2004, and in fairness, there hadn’t been H&G at that point to increase suspicion of owners.
But it took over three weeks to get the right man (and boy did we!) in much simpler times than these. And the world didn’t end in the meantime, did it?
The worst thing for me at the moment is I am a lifelong lfc fan,is the fans turning on each other or the owners and frankly it is unwarranted,hicks and gillette nearly destroyed this club I was horrified to learn we where one day away from administration that for me was disgusting for owners to drag an institution like lfc directly into the limelight and eventually into the courts.this behaviour was definitely not the liverpool way and should not be allowed to happen again,and under fsg it will not happen again if like me you do some searching into fsg you will find they have a sports background and make no mistake they do mean business at liverpool and we will be brought back to ultimately where we belong.now our job as fans is to show them what the liverpool way is according to us the fans and they will learn just how big their family is and how much each and everyone of us care and we hurt when they hurt,so lets get right behind them and never let them walk alone
Great post Daniella, completely agree that the fans determine the identity and that’s what separates us from the likes of arsenal and Chelsea. So long as fans educate new fans to the liverpool way of a supporter, we’ll keep that identity.
Great article!
Great piece. The most galling thing about the last few weeks has been the various sticks LFC fans pick up to beat FSG with. They’re trying to do business behind closed doors, and that’s 100% correct, despite what the mainstream media would prefer.
And so, instead of us LFC fans joining the feeding frenzy via blogs and Twatter, we should all stay calm and trust in FSG’s better judgement before we criticise.
Most fans would say that KK leaving / staying could’ve gone either way – so it wasn’t 100% unwarranted even though we all love the guy dearly. FSG weren’t completely barmy regarding that decision – let’s just hope they get the next one right.
So – let’s sit tight and let those who love to denigrate our club do their worst – buying into the machinations of rival fans/pundits isn’t going to help us at all.
Great piece Danielle, exactly what I’ve been thinking recently, we cant have it both ways, I know its hard since H&G, but we really need to relax a little. FSG want LFC to be successful, as do we.
Excellent post. Agree with all of it. I’m staying off Twitter for a while after this week because I’ve gone from thinking LFC fans are the best fans in the world to the most embarrassing.
Exactly! I have nothing further to add.
I agree, Peter. It’s sad to see so many fans really becoming very divisive about the club. Kenny brought us back together, and implored that we all needed to pull in the same direction for the club to succeed. Now that he’s gone, we need to heed that advice more than ever.
Trouble is, we’ve been burned before so it’s hard to trust those in power to get it right. I understand the divisions, just wish it wasn’t so.
Fantastic piece Danielle – agree with every word.
Only things I would add are:
1) Everyone has a different idea of what the Liverpool Way is, but the common theme would be “successful, but with a strong sense of community, and a sense of respect for others in victory or defeat”
2) The loss of success and the instability brought by changes of ownership have twisted the sense of what the Liverpool way means, and it is all too easy for supporters to behave (and expect the club itself to behave) in ways that are not consistent with the cause
One thing I remember about when FSG took over was that said they had been watching DVDs of Liverpool’s triumphs in the 70s and 80s, and they were asked for their first impressions of LFC, and they replied “In a word, ruthless”. In our heyday, we only needed to be ruthless on the pitch. Now we need to be ruthless in our pursuit of revenue across the globe. Some people seem to find the pursuit of kit deals and commercial sponsorship distasteful and somehow “anti-Liverpool Way”. It is of course a far cry from the apolitical socialist vision of a group of working class people gathering in devotion to the game of football, and in this respect Shankly’s version of the Liverpool Way is sadly long-gone (at least in the professional game).
We are where we are though, but we still love the club and want it to return to the top. We may have to pursue this love at unaffordable personal expense, watch games at an arena named after an airline or a hotel chain, endure hyped up media coverage that scarcely refers to the game we watched, and watch a succession of Geoff Shreeves-like characters torturing our heroes with facile interviews … but hopefully we will still have 11 men playing pass-and-move football and taking on Europe’s best, and for all our recent faults, as supporters we have a long way to fall until we hit the depths of corrupted morality that we have seen from some minorities in our rivals’ fan bases.
Thank you Alex, and you make some fantastic points.
We do need to be ruthless, and by “we” I mean the owners, as they have the power to make the changes necessary to do so. But as I said in the last paragraph, we as the fans will always be there for the club. Therefore the Liverpool Way will never truly be lost as long as the fans represent the club in the best way possible, supporting through thick and thin. The arguments and divisions do the club no good. We have to start pulling together.
Great article! Wish I could staple it to the face of everyone of these hysterical fans
THE HYPOCRISY an interesting subject
I have no problem with FSG exploiting the Liverpool brand and getting better kit deals and shirt sponsorship, finding new ways to generate funds through new media and across the globe. As an architect I can see the merits of a new stadium and of expanding / extending Anfield. If it is a new stadium then it needs to be 65 to 70,000 seats perhaps more to make the venture worthwhile if not then increase the size of Anfield.
I prefer FSG to conduct their business behind closed doors, but if they want to tell the world as they do it, I do not mind either. However, after 18 months I would expect them to have some sort of plan, I would expect them to find a CEO that was a CEO and not a sales man; if you are going to sack people then I would expect replacements. Especially if you had planned to sack them for months (I am referring here to Ian Cotton, et al and not just Kenny)
I have a problem at the moment with the way the club is being run both under FSG and prior to that with H + G and that is footballing decisions being made by non- footballing people for non-footballing reasons. When Houillier was sacked it was after 6 years and things were sliding downhill and everyone could see it; there had been bad buys, but, it now transpires to be the traditional half arsed logic of any LFC board, Cisse was signed for a record fee and then the manager sacked. Rafa came in and got the best out of a mixed bunch of players and got them to the final of the Carling Cup and Champions league we know the rest….
We had good years under Rafa in the CL and a couple of times in the prem, we had a team with a world class spine that on its day could and did beat any team in Europe, LFC was back at the top table and it had its mojo back, and every other club in Europe new it. Despite this after failing to qualify for the CL in his last year even though we nearly reached the final of the UEFA cup. Many fans wanted Rafa out, more importantly the board wanted Rafa out, not because he finished 7th but because Rafa told the world H+G had no money and were pillaging the club. Purslow, Broughton and Ayre replaced Rafa with Roy because he was good at brown nosing investors, and was media friendly (sic)
FSG come in and held on to Roy as long as possible before bringing in Kenny because the last thing FSG want is an iconic manager that interacts with the fans, FSG want a young manager that will keep their mouth shut; but because Kenny does well, they reluctantly give him a contract and he does buy players with Commolli, to this day I do not know who decided on which players to bring in, or to let go (that situation was instigated by FSG for bringing in Commolli), but there was a large hole in the squad of players between 23 and 31 years old, the legacy of H+G and Roy. When it comes to Hypocrisy this is the point that irritates most. Money paying off Parry, Purslow, Roy (and all his signings) is never taken into account, neither is the 50 million for the stadium, these executive decisions cost the club 100 million.
Kenny was given a 3 year contract to rebuild the club and the squad, he left after one year because he did not finish in the top 4, despite at least 4 teams having better squads and winning a cup and reaching the final of another. It took city 3 seasons having invested over 100 million a season to break into the top 4, last year they won a cup, and for them it was progress and their first trophy for 40 years. There is a lot of Hypocrisy around the club and it is in the boardroom. Kenny was given the boot at the first opportunity. He was not able to build a team; to do this it takes time and money. I would prefer a top 4 finish to a Carling or FA Cup but I realise that this is difficult when the squad needs re-building; it is easier to focus on cups especially when you lose Lucas and have no replacement.
In many ways I would like Rafa back because he knows the players and restructured the academy and is a world class manager, however, the other part of me thinks that there is no point Rafa coming back because he will only get shafted like Kenny, because FSG do not have a plan (if they had then Kenny would not have been offered the role of director of football) and Rafa would expose this, which is why he will only be interviewed to be seen to be interviewed.
I hope FSG prove me wrong and we look back at this summer as the start of a new era, but as you may tell I am very sceptical about FSG and if they had their time again I am not convinced they would have bid for the club. I am no fan of Purslow but even he was sceptical about the FSG investment and the one true LFC fan at FSG, Joe Januszewski left soon after the takeover.
Could’nt have said better myself Troutbeck,
Good one danielle!!
As my uncle once said “we are the reds, and from what I understand the liverpool way is about being revolutionary and being open to changes to compete for the highest honours without having to sell our souls to the devil, otherwise we’ll just be another red devils” :))
*stands and applauds*
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. We can all moan at each other all we want on Twitter and the boards, but all it’s doing is weakening our position more and more.
For three years, I sat aghast at the incessant mud slinging going on between Hicks, Gillett, Parry, and Rafa. Day after day, back page after back page, our name was up in lights, and for all the wrong reasons. We sat, we sighed, and we longed for the days when we returned to a time when the only reason Liverpool was talked about was in reference to the football.
We sit behind our keyboards these days, and complain. We complain that our owners hired a Director of Football. We complain that the Director of Football should be sacked. We complained when the Director of Football was sacked. Now we’re complaining that we don’t have a Director of Football. Same with money. We complain that we feel our owners put revenue ahead of trophies (a Carling Cup, mind you), but with our next breath demand why there’s no progress on a half a billion pound stadium, and bemoan our net spend. We rail against an “I want it now” attitude about the manager, but at the same time are demanding movement just a week after Kenny’s departure, and crusading at the lack of a stadium just 18 months into their ownership. (And remember, we all said 18 months is FAR too short to judge anyone, when it came to Kenny)
We complain that we don’t want our club to be like Chelsea. And yet… we sort of do. We certainly want the club to SPEND like Chelsea, expecting a stadium and a healthy net spend. And we want them without putting the club into debt. But we don’t want them to ACT like Chelsea. We want them to sit in their seats, sign the cheques, and keep quiet.
Oh no wait, we don’t want them to be quiet. We want them to be vocal.
Erm, well, just about the things we want to hear. Everything else, just sit there, write the cheques out of your own pocket, do what we ask of you, and maybe after a few years, we’ll learn to trust again.
UberMick has “post of the week” sewn up.
ferd
ubermick
brilliant if i could “like” i would.
Danielle, as always very well written and balanced! I was sad to see kenny go, but I am optimistic, and I agree with doing business behind closed doors because the media is twisted! To say the least! Well done!
Nike
Danielle
A great post, objective, rationale and well argued. All qualities that have been sadly missing since the departure of KK and, franky, for some time before that.
The one thing I don’t quite follow, not necessarily in your post, but a common theme, is the assumption that we need to accept compromise, that our aspirations are mutually exclusive. The debate on trophies or 4th place is redundant, because we should be targeting both. Same with the notion that being commercially successful is at odds with having strong values based on traditional foundations. Liverpool FC always achieved both and there’s no reason to believe that we can’t in the future.
The big difference today, is that it’s unlikely that a team can be successful on the pitch if they are unsuccessful off it. In the past you could blag it, but not today. And in today’s environment that means stadium naming rights, corporate deals and all the other tawdry stuff that people find so objectionable. I remember when shirt sponsorship was first introduced – you’d have sworn it was the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it. The base-line has moved up – we need to recognise that and move with it.
Change can be painful, but I think it’s essential and will ultimately take us to a better place.
Thanks again for sparking a good line of debate
Colin H
YNWA.
Winning the Premiership (or league for the old timers) was an always will be the priority. This is the English league 1, the league that all players born in the UK, Europe or around the world know to be the best league in the world, and for whom most is the pinnacle of their footballing careers, to be Champions of this league is a magnet for all the great players who wish to come to LFC and a bench mark for all those who are coming up. The structural foundation that is created by league success can not and will not ever be substituted by exterior trophies alone, money has nothing to do with it, take Man City as an example, unless they implode next season as some teams do after winning the Premiership (Blackburn, Chelsea 2nd time), although this is highly unlikely, the psychological cementing of Premiership champion status into the roots of the club will make them very hard to beat, this is why LFC had such success for two decades and why Ferguson by his own admission based Man Utd on the LFC model. Money is great, but being a winner has more value in regards to dominating opponents.
YNWA.
I should use twitter more. Seems like I’m missing all the drama of social media.
Seems horrifying that a medium which encourages short, snippy, instant soundbites with little depth and even less reflection should be used for short, snippy, instant soundbites with little depth and even less reflection.
O tempora o mores.
a decent article; nicely balanced, but i do think you overstate the argument a little on the side with which you disagree.
i don’t think there are many people who actively believe that finishing 17 points behind 4th is good enough irrespective of cup performance. but the point is this is a club recovering from crisis and with minimal investment on average over the past 3 years, playing through a season of off-field trouble where kenny stood alone.
the ‘liverpool way’ most sensible people are bemoaning the death of is the idea (voiced by ian ayre) that *nothing else matters* but CL entry. cup competitions are meaningless distractions, and silverware is irrelevant.
when i first fell in love with liverpool i would stare at the club’s honours list in a magazine and be wowed by it. it is difficult to escape the feeling that FSG would be quite happy if the honours list has no new additions for the next 10 years as long as we secure our revenue streams with CL qualification. of course they’ll WANT to win the league. but no cups and 4th/3rd would be good enough.
give me a cup any day, and to sack a cup winning manager of such legendary status and winning reputation as kenny dalglish was a poor decision.
yes, we need to move forward, but it is not a stark dichotomy that states either we change completely or we remain stuck in the past. there are ways to progress, increase the club’s revenue but keep its integrity intact. it seems FSG are not interested in that path though, as evidenced by last week’s sacking.
as mentioned on the podcast, it’s a paradigm shift. it’s year zero. welcome to liverpool 2.0.
Fantastic article and what I have been saying to people for a while ( well a week!)
Its like being a 10 yr old before Christmas, you cant wait for the day to come, your bursting to find out what you have got…. i just hope when the day comes its a scalectrix and not a orange in a sock!!!!
We all need to calm down (including SOS), the owners have not told lies as far as I know and are not currently asset stripping the club.
If they announce something straight away they panic, if they bide their time they don’t know what there doing.
Under Moores the old “liverpool way” was out of date and we were left behind. He eventually realised this and Sold to unfounded promises and the cowboys got us in to a right mess. Now FSG are attempting to rebuild on and off the pitch.
There is room for “the liverpool way” in the modern game, but it is a global business and we need to mix the good of the old with the new.
I am from Liverpool but live in OZ, now. I would rather people out here support liverpool than any other team, I want the world to support liverpool.
The core heartbeat will always be local support of any team, you never want to change that. Going global is not selling your soul its spreading the gospel of the anfield church! But the “no one is bigger than the club” saying goes for fans too, no one is better or more deserving than anyone else we are all equal.
whether that is sitting on the Kop or watching every game at 4am!!!!
We should all try to remain calm. All these finger pointing at FSG or anger towards FSG seems to be unwarranted at this moment. I understand the worry surrounding their management of the club given the disorganisation in the management over the past 18 months. However are we passing a judgement too fast just as we are accusing FSG of passing a judgement too fast on Kenny? Hypocrisy?
FSG probably could have done a lot better but is our club really worse off than 2 years ago. 2 years ago we were facing administration, mid-table team and not won anything for a long time. Today we are financially stable, still mid table and we actually won something.
Fans has to realise FSG took more risk than anyone in bailing out the club. They of all people will want to see the club do well for the sake of their own investment. They are currently making changes to the club, putting their own footprints, their ideas and setting a new foundation for further growth. They have a steep learning curve and are bound to make mistake along the way. However we have to trust them that every decision made on the belief if it be for the better of the club. Frankly we do not really have a choice, they are the owners for a reason. I believe their objective of them trying to increasing the value of the club is aligned with ours to see the club do well.
Hence let’s all remain calm and patience, stand as one and support the new manager, new head of communication, new commercial director and new technical director.
pffft
Freakin A. Give FSG a chance.