WITH an unsurprising disappointment looming over Liverpool the past few weeks, negative comments about the club from the media were not unexpected.
However, as the old saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining and Liverpool’s cloud may brighter than people believe.
With a return to ‘Anfield South’ looming against our neighbours and a genuine possibility of lifting a second trophy this season, here are five reasons to be cheerful:
Carling Cup Glory
After 6 years, the sight of Steven Gerrard lifting a trophy was a real moment of joy for Liverpool fans. The reactions of the players showed how much a cup win meant to them, even though the Carling Cup is the least desired trophy of all club competitions with Premier League participants. Just to see the club play at Wembley with a mass of fans out-singing their opponents, was a sight to behold. I would suggest that had the club not won the game that Sunday in London, the season may have been more disastrous than is being portrayed now and Kenny’s job may have been in serious, serious danger.
Derby Wins
Any Liverpool fan will tell you that winning against their city rivals is one of the most treasured moments in any calendar season. To beat Everton at Goodison and
then at Anfield this season will live long in the memory. Luis Suarez and a rare Andy Carroll goal swept the Toffees aside in October. And an inspired Steven Gerrard single handily won the game for the Reds at Anfield – the most memorable home performance of the season. With disappointing results in previous seasons against their neighbours, Liverpool’s wins really were made all the more impressive by the genuine domination of both games.
Martin Skrtel
After a shaky start to the season, the Slovakian has really impressed in recent games and his partnership with Daniel Agger that kept Jamie Carragher out of the side for much of the season was a real positive. “The Terminator” is part of a Liverpool defence that was second only to Man City, in terms of goals conceded, until the Reds recent dismal run of form. He has also contributed vital goals for the club, opening the scoring in the Carling Cup final as well as scoring the second goal in the victory away at Aston Villa. At just 27, Skrtel may be a real key player in the next few years, especially with Carra’s clock ticking towards retirement.
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The Owners
At the start of last season, the word “bankruptcy” was an unwelcome guest attempting to crash Liverpool’s party. Owners at the time Tom Hicks and George Gillett reluctantly allowed the club to be sold. Thank God. Current owner John W. Henry seems genuinely excited about the future of the club. As the owner of one of the most successful sports franchises in the world (Boston Red Sox), Henry has instilled confidence in the fans and indicated that Liverpool will continue to run as one of the world’s biggest clubs. The progress that the club has made under Henry was shown in 2011 when Forbes magazine listed Liverpool as the sixth most valuable football team in the world.
The Manager
Yes! Believe it or not Kenny Dalglish is probably the right man to take this club forward. With so much negativity surrounding the manager and so many fans calling for his head, the reign of Kenny as King is on a knife edge. What has to be remembered is that no one understands the philosophy of the club more than the Scotsman. His passion and desire for Liverpool to succeed is as strong as even the most diehard Reds fan. The squad is not good enough to compete for the title at the present time. However, instead of directing anger and displeasure towards Kenny, the fans should back him and repay the faith that he has shown in the club. He will have a considerable sum of money to spend in the summer and with a good signing or two and a fresh approach to the style of Liverpool’s play, Dalglish could turn things around and by this time next season, Kenny’s name could once again be sung from every seat at Anfield.
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Nobody understands the club better and with signing or two and fresh approach he will turn things around.If that signing or two r anything like the 80million he spent on the four than expect next season to b the same as this one. It would have been nice if it did work for him but it’s not. Forget the CC and just look at PL table and you’ll c that we r some 36 points behind that team who r winning their 20 title. I actually don’t care if we get a mngr who never had any connection to the club as long as he makes us competitive again. (RB made us number one team in Europe ).
More reasons to be positive. Andy Carrol will become a great signing. Downing will settle after a full season in the PL, you know, coming from abroad takes time to settle. Adam will become the next Alonso. Spearing is the next Steve G. Get real please.
The faith kenny has shown in the club???? Is the other way around and it was a disastrous one! We wasted a vast amount of money on two championship players. Adam and Carrol = 45 million pounds….. Oh wait , Carrol cost nothing….that’s the argument anyway.
Moving on to progress, Newcastle , everton , spurs, our competitors in general have made progress. We have not. I saw it coming when we went for English/ scotish players primarily. When all other clubs look for talent around the world, we decided to base our scouting on 1% of the world talent.
Moving on to homegrown players. Can someone see how spearing gets in the team? Positive discrimination is not what Liverpool is about. With Adam, Carrol and spearing, could someone pull any statistics as to how successful we have been?
You say kenny will be given more money. 0 progress after 100 million spent is enough evidence that he is clueless .
Let’s call a spade a spade. Kenny has got to go. Souness mack 2!!! Had his chance, it’s painful to see him fail but unless we start looking the situation for what it is, some fans refuse to and choose to pretend all is well.
The KD brigade can at most say 2 things to retain him;
1) CC
2) He is KD.
Nothing on performance, accountability what so ever. Theses are the same people who called for Rafa’s head after 1 bad season by his own high standards.
you really are deluded when trying to portray the carling cup as some sort of monumental achievement
It goes to show how low we had stooped under KD and his fans are calling him a saviour.
It is a monumental achievement considering the season we have had. Deluded is not the word. Trying to bring some positivity to the fans is all this article is trying to do. And it does it well.
oh yh and you just about won the cup against a dire team on penalties!! Not something to boast about…
I guess Mancini had spent more than others but will he lift any single trophy this season..KD should be given more time, he should improve on his team selection and convert the goal post nightmare into reality. He needs penalty box scorer like RVN or Rushie.
I would have accepted your argument wholeheartedly if we were anywhere in the top 5, or even 6. Man C may not win anything, but they have dominated the PL for large parts of the season, and Newcastle, Spurs, and WORSE, Everton above us….do you wish us to accept that and turn a blind eye ????? Sorry, can not.
I love Kenny, it pains to see him fail, I also believed (perhaps I still do) that next season will see a marked difference under him, but this string of results has done him no favour. He needs to win the FA cup, and win all the rest of the fixtures, yes win them all, otherwise I do not think he will be there next term.
Rafa and Houllier never had any connection with the club that KD did and yet we enjoyed our most successfull spels both in cups and league in recent memory under them and they unlike KD did not have 100 mill to blow in a season and a half.
The highlight mentioned is always the CC (what else have the KD army have to boast) but besides being the least important trophy, we nearly lost it to a MID TABLE second division team, on penalties.
Much had been said about MC and Mancini spending 200 mill in 2 seasons with nothing to show but the fact is :
1) They are challenging for the prem.
2) On average, Mancini spent 100 mill per season, same with KD. The diff is they pay for the finished item, KD on the other hand on potential.
The team also lacked team spirit a real digress from what we had in 2009 where Rafa and team punched above their weight to finished 2nd. Kd can say that its the same when RH is in charge but if that is the case should not KD be sack then?
KD is a step backwards that is a fact that even his most ardent fan can’t argue. He should be long gone, another season with him is another wasted season.
I simply don’t know why all fans are against KD…
Just tell me one thing , do u want to be like chelsea, kicking managers out very now and then…
SAF (although i hate to give his example) didn’t won anything in his first 6/7 years and they stick with him…
who is better than… success comes only at the cost of patience…
Plz shut the crap if u want OUR LFC to succeed and let KD do the rest…
YOU won’t find anyone better than him bcd he has passion for LFC and he is the ONE AND THE ONLY ONE…
If u love LFC then stop criticizing him…
No one is immune to criticism, and no one ever should be.
If you judge people on the same scale, then ask why was Rafa let go?
Ans: Because he had one bad season, we finished 7th.
Why did we fire Hodgson?
Ans: Midway through the season we found him to be incapable of taking us forward, because the results proved that.
How can KD be any different given the results?
Ans: Because he is KD.
I accept that argument about Kenny, I believe in him, but he WILL be criticized for the shortcomings, and people must not defend him purely because of the fact that he is ‘Kenny’.
Ghazi,i noticed you did not give 1 solid reason why KD should be retained other than , He is KD, SAF nearly got sacked, etc.
For you info, Chelski had always been challenging for the title or even top 4, despite what you said about them. We had been very loyal to our managers but we won exactly 0 league titles in more than 20 years. Roman’s motto is simple, i give you all the resources you bring the results that i want. While i am not suggesting we copy thye wholesale, LFC could certainly learn from them. Oh and look at Sunderland after they sacked SB.
As for the SAF story, this is old news. This was what we had been saying since the time of Souness. It only proves fairy tale happen once in a very long time. Going by that logic, why sack Rafa then?
KD MIGHT or Might not have the passion but he certainly DOES NOT HAVE the ability, not any more. Again going by your logic, i had been a fan for 30 years, got plenty of passion, can i be the new No.9 then or manage my beloved club?
Again like KD, you have plenty of sound bites but zero logic.
Excellent Article, nice to have some positivity on the site. Too many fans on here don’t appreciate the Liverpool Way or Kenny’s connection to the club and fans. Too many were not even born in 1989 to appreciate the sacrifices that Kenny has made for our club.
I agree with you that Kenny can take us forward and that the season hasn’t been too bad. There are just far too many so called fans who don’t understand the game and think that it’s just that easy to become a genuine title contender.
Of course, it’s not, and a bit of money and a coupla signings doesn’t just make it happen. The unrealistic expectations stem from a lack of an adult comprehension of just how low the club had sunk before Kenny, they talk as if the years of Gillette and Hicks and the Hodgson nightmare never happened, as if KD took over from Rafa when all was rosy.
We will go forward with King Kenny, and we will lift the FA Cup, and next season, we will be all the stronger for it, whether cynics call it Mickey Mouse or not. We know that every trophy is important, that’s the Liverpool Way!
Im sorry but if the liverpool way is spending 100+ million with nothing to show except a REALLY lucky CC win then the club havee lost it . Please stop with the KD knows best, he clearly doesnt most of his signings bar suarez have been disgraceful. Plus his clear paranoia in interviews…….