4th is Realistic, Anything more Reds fans is just Dreamland

Somewhere between a nightmare and dreamland.

Liverpool FC fans, prepare yourselves, this won’t be over before Christmas and some of us may lose loved ones. Liverpool FC are (excluding investment) in a process of devolution. The arrival of Man City at the top of the Premier League has firmly bumped Liverpool down another notch. Our aims, whether we like them or not, will be solely 4th place. Those fans demanding the league, forget it, you’re in dream land.

With the World Cup over, all the sports journalists have ran out of condescending articles about South Africa and just like all those stadiums that were built, the country will be cast back into the shadow. The Premier League will now be the focus and Liverpool may be the star attraction, in tabloid terms anyway…

Roy Hodgson has an excellent relationship with the media at the moment, so he will be given some slack, but come Christmas, I expect to see a different Roy. The unrealistic expectation of some fans coupled with a foamy mouthed press-beast in overdrive will undoubtedly ensure Roy Hodgson faces the toughest job of his life.

Last year, as we all know too well, Liverpool were woeful. Finishing 7th and looking lethargic throughout the season. The highs and then disappointment of the 08/09 season seemed to have left an incurable hangover on the class of 09/10. The lack of Champions League football over the next season or so could help cement Liverpool’s future as 4th place contenders for more than just the coming campaign.

Financially, we can no longer compete with Chelsea and Man City. They’re in a world of their own and should be rightful favourites for the coming season. Arsenal and Manchester United come next, they have great squads and both claim to have some transfer muscle this summer. Next, in my eyes, come Tottenham and Liverpool. This is the kind of level I see we’re at now. To achieve success, we must first set a reachable target. The chances of our squad, with limited investment, overhauling 5 of the 6 clubs that finished above us last year is almost too much to ask.

Tottenham will now feel that they can outbid anyone we try for, all we have left at the moment is prestige, whereas they have the city, the Champions League and a more promising future (at present). When one thinks about the mentality of some of the players in today’s game then prestige is something few care about.

It feels like I’m being harsh when I see it, but Liverpool have found themselves leapfrogged, and without the strength to jump back. Don’t get me wrong, our 1st XI is fantastic, we could have a whole team of World Cup players and can compete with anyone. Our squad though has been the number 1 victim of the current ownership. Whereas Manchester United, Chelsea and Man City can leave £!5m-£30m players on the bench and not be accused of mismanagement, Liverpool cannot.

The task facing Hodgson is tremendous and no amount of Champ Manager fantasy-optimism would convince me otherwise. With Benitez out of the picture, the media should give Hodgson some time to breathe, which will be welcome. The last 6 years of intense media bullying on things like playing 4-5-1 instead of 4-4-2 (What the media now begs Capello to do), Zonal marking (the way Spain play), playing Gerrard behind Torres (he brought the best out of Gerrard) and being criticised for buying too many foreigners, despite most of his 1st team signings being present at the World Cup latter stages.

Roy’s gentlemanly persona will no doubt cast a different mood over Melwood and maybe, just maybe, he can turn our fortunes around. I hope he can get the best out’ve players that do need an arm around the shoulder, like he did with Zamora, but I’m thinking of Ryan Babel in this instance.

For the last year I feel as though everything I write has become negative although deep down I am hopeful of even the most outrageous outcome. If Torres and Gerrard gained full fitness and stayed fit throughout the season for instance, then who knows how high we could finish. The odds are truly stacked against us though and the loss of Mascherano will require sound investment, last year he was the Premier Leagues top tackler and by far and away the most successful (>80%).

I have no idea who Roy is looking at and I’m aware that it’s silly season around here, but the fact all the players linked with our club would never have been mooted 2 years ago, shows the kind of expectation on us. Although I wouldn’t mind Gerrard being moved on (insuring Roy got the money), the sale of Fernando Torres would be catastrophic.

The desperation by some fans to keep him (as shown by the clamour around ‘the scarf picture’) is testament to our worries as a club. Until the American owners are packing their bags, Liverpool fans will not feel they’ve got the clean break they crave.

As Liverpool evolves into a new incarnation under Hodgson, the vestigial elements of the club will begin to show up. Everytime a new man comes in, their must be a fire sale. Hodgson will no doubt want to leave a mark at Liverpool and I think he does have the ability to do so. My main concern is that he will walk the same path as Rafa, not being given enough funds and enough time.

Over the last 6 years, Liverpool’s troubles became public quickly, thanks to players like Carragher and Gerrard leaking to Oliver Holt and Chris Bascombe. Added to that, Chris Purslow has his own press contacts as well as the spin merchants that are Hicks and Gillett, the only way Rafa was getting his point across was through his press-conferences. We all know what commotion they caused.

Roy Hodgson would surprise many if he took up Rafa’s embattled style, but Reds fans be warned, just because things seem quiet will probably say more about Roy Hodgson as a man than the state of affairs at the club. He certainly won’t want to rock the boat in his 1st season, leaving the running of the club in peace. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or not, I like my managers to have the biggest say because they have football at their heart.

With the 1st pre-season match just days away, I look forward to 10 months of scrutiny, hype and over-all contentment. I don’t expect us to win the league, I expect us to secure 4th place and regain our position from ‘Arry Redknapp (who just won’t shut up about any player). I of course hope I’m completely wrong and we suddenly kick into gear and challenge for the league, but that would confirm I’m either dead or dreaming.

Speaking of dreaming, I hope this is all a dream and I wake up in a minute to find out Liverpool have been bought out by a super-rich successful businessman who just happens to adore Liverpool FC. Okay, snapping out of it… NOW!

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