Quite frankly, who knows what the next 24 hours hold in store for us. At least we can lose ourselves in football for another short period this evening as the Reds take to the field in the Europa League. However, that will almost certainly be no more than the briefest of preludes to another 3 days of rumour and assumption before another hugely significant protest on Sunday.
It is a confusing time for the conscience, as I, personally would happily endure a mid-table finish and even the immediate deduction of 9 points, if it ensured that RBS were going to foreclose on the moneys owed by the clubs despicable owners. Yet for those precious few minutes where politics and finances are pushed to the back of the mind, I am possessed by the Spirit of Shankly, driven by the glorious history, and compelled by desire to implore and fully expect victory.
However difficult, and I believe that it is highly so, the players must take full responsibility for their performances, and to this point of the season they have been unsatisfactory. Fact! Were I being mischievous or slightly ironic, I would say that recent efforts have been lacking in quality and focus. More seriously, whilst a lack of quality can be forgiven, a lack of focus and effort is intolerable.
It is also quite clear that supporters have different opinions, not least about the new manager. There is unity in the goals that we seek, and that is success on the playing field, and the removal of the detested owners from the club. This is all so incongruous with the Shankly quote which continues to strongly resonate with me during this period:
“At a football club, there’s a holy trinity – the players, the manager and the supporters. Directors don’t come into it. They are only there to sign the cheques.”
We know only too well that the cheques at Anfield are currently of the rubber variety, which leaves only the ‘holy trinity’ to maintain any type of equilibrium at the club. Now, more than ever, fans must wholeheartedly back the manager and the players, regardless of individual opinions. Likewise, the players must somehow put to the back of their mind the off-field distractions and remember, again in the words of Shankly:
“Fire in your belly comes from pride and passion in wearing the Red shirt. We don’t need to motivate players because each of them is responsible for the performance of the team as a whole. The status of Liverpool’s players keeps them motivated.”
The weeks ahead will be filled with rumour, passion and the most important journey upon which the Kop has embarked in the illustrious history of this football club. I assure each and every Liverpool Supporter, whether on the Spion or Armchair Kop, that if supporters and players unite as one, they will be an irresistible force for which the corrupt and crooked regime will be no match.
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its all right people like daglish saying the owners mess should not affect the team, well it doe’s because it affects the crowd and the crowd affect the team, the crowd are more easilly disheartened.
A point well made. However, I would disagree with Kenny and say that if affects the team equally if not more. I quote from a piece I wrote on my own site just last weekend:
“I put it in a very basic concept to which most can relate, that if the company for whom you work or the college at which you studied was constantly the subject of rumour, speculation and negative publicity, could you honestly say that you would be able to concentrate fully on the task at hand? I would be queuing to go and work in a more secure and happy environment.”
I was sitting in the kop that day. The “Steve Bruce, he’s got a big fat head” song served us great amusement in these struggling times!
The best way to sum up the poisoned atmosphere at Anfield nowadays is that Shankly quote, “At a football club, there’s a holy trinity – the players, the manager and the supporters. Directors don’t come into it. They are only there to sign the cheques.”
There IS a correlation, and a direct one at that, between the antics of G & H, debt, rising ticket prices, Hodgson’s team and the players. No one ever planned well amidst instability. This is not to collectively lump blame but to apportion it as appropriate, and yes, players do have their role to play.
Through it all, class like Pepe’s has shone, leading LFC by example and proving that: 1) You need not be Scouse to appreciate what Liverpool FC’s truly about, and, 2) You can choose to rise above all the garbage at Anfield (or any club for that matter) and keep your head high through the storm.
It is time we fans followed that lead and improved our own game. There should be no compromise in seeking the two bozos at Anfield out, and no excuse too not to support SOS and any relevant pro-LFC initiative, especially one that’s fan driven.
Negativity is worse than contagious disease, quickly spreading and poisoning the atmosphere. This is when we are called to stand for this legendary institution like never before. Yet, history reminds us we’ve been here, proving the Ecclesiastical wisdom of nothing new under the sun.
I still believe that history is a useful pot to draw strength, endurance, perseverance, from. We must now.
This second of Shankly quotes I’ve used here, “Fire in your belly comes from pride and passion in wearing the Red shirt. We don’t need to motivate players because each of them is responsible for the performance of the team as a whole. The status of Liverpool‘s players keeps them motivated”; is proof not one player is to blame. It could be all, a few or any of the two scenarios (if not both).
With hope in our hearts, with our heads held high.
Kwame Nkrumah (Independent Ghana’s first president): We look neither to the east nor west. We look ahead.”
YN(Ever)WA(Ever)!