Ryan Babel should be given a run of at least 10 games to build his confidence.
We must drop Kuyt because he is ineffective and useless.
Martin Kelly did well for a game, move Johnson to right midfield and play Kelly at right back for the rest of the season.
If Aquilani is sat on the bench then he's obviously fully fit, so play him.
and finally....
Get rid of Benitez and bring back Souness!
Internet Forums
How does it look to you. Is that a blueprint for success? Well take the combined 'expertise' from some forum contributors or 'experts' as some would say and this is what you end up with. I guess we're all entitled to our opinions but some, when stacked up like above, just beggar belief.
This is even before we get onto the vile contribution from other 'experts' who seem to be unable to string together a full sentence without the use of f***, sh** or cu**. These types of 'experts' are most dangerous when forum hunting in a pack I have found.
Now, don't get me wrong everyone is quite rightly entitled to their point of view. I have actually only started interacting in forums over the past couple of months. My expectations of what I might find were possibly just a bit too high though. I expected reasoned debate backed with some sort of evidence of logical thinking, interjected from time to time by the odd idiot. What I have found is a bit different, or perhaps the exact opposite in some cases. A lot of people (not all) seem to have a fixed point of view and you can't shift them no matter what evidence you produce. Others have very little to back up their point of view and seem to be working on a hunch or what they were told.
Knowledge is power but a little knowledge is just downright dangerous. This is where I have the biggest problem with forums. None of us contributors have the whole picture. We don't know who's playing well in training, has a slight knock, has full match fitness etc. But yet we take 50 - 75% of the information available and pass absolute judgements on players, managers and the club as a whole. Then when you reduce the knoweldge gap by providing evidence, well if it was on the phone it would be like this...
'Expert': Rafa doesn't bring through players like Wenger, why can't we get Wenger. Rafa is sh** at bringing through players.
Fact Based Expert: Do you realise that he has only recently had full control over the academy set up and here's the evidence? So really it's a bit unfair to level that accusation at him. We need to judge him over the next few years don't we?
'Expert': ... *click*
Fact Based Expert: hello?
I think you all know my views on Rafa if you read part 2 (CLICK HERE for PART 2) of this series. There are contributing factors with a weight of evidence behind them as to why patience is required. On the other side there is.... urm... well bad results. Short term views aren't helping anyone. We are in this for the long haul. Does anyone believe that without our injuries we would be so far behind? Yet people enter forums with a gut feeling or a reaction to a bad result. They seem to have already forgotten how well we did last season. Yet 6 months later we have the worst manager ever and now all his knowledge, that guided us so near last season, dropped out of his head. Now he's rubbish.
But here's the contradiction for every 100 posts in a forum a small percentage are well presented and researched arguments. They make sense and I nod my head and I think yes I agree with that, even if I didn't before, you have persuaded me. It's usually those posts that are followed by "you p*ick you don't know what you're on about' though. So I shake my head and between the nodding and the shaking I start to feel dizzy and slightly nauseous.
So, on the whole, I don't like forums. They're not places to go to talk things over or foster support at times of trouble like now. They're places to go and put forward a point of view without proper research and to generally have a go. The wheels are falling off, quick replace the driver. But that won't help and here is a full list of scientific research to show why the driver won't make any difference to the nuts holding the wheels on....... hello?
Spirit of Shankly
I really like the concept of a supporters union and I admire some of the work which is being conducted by SOS. At first I was concerned that it was a 'closed shop' and that interaction with them would be restricted. This has not been my experience to date. I have communicated with them on several occasions and they have responded with their point of view and encouraged me to attend a meeting. They have been continually open and courteous with me as I emailed question after question.
I do wonder though whether their initial raison d'etre will hamper them in the future. They will not be shaken in their conviction that the owners of the club are bad for it. I applaud the conviction of their belief but I think they could end up the wrong way of a one way alley. They have gone on the record as stating that they will not change their views and that, to me, was a mistake.
We are fast approaching deadlock. The owners of the club cannot be forcibly removed and they are hard nosed businessmen. Demonstrations or any other actions will not bother them while the club continues to improve commercially, which it is doing. They will only take action when they see it hit their wallets. I am unsure if SOS can generate the following it needs to effect this kind of change.
So the general bad feeling created continues and a section of the fan base continues to be unhappy. The danger persists that the corporate image may be tarnished and this could do immense damage to the club. SOS may then find a larger section of fans protesting about their actions.
I also have a genuine concern that within forums more 'hardcore / direct action' splinter groups are being discussed. They may be separate from SOS but they may damage by association, which would be a shame.
I know SOS has a sizeable following and I am one person. I would just ask them to consider the idea of 'peace time' again. We have enough to worry about on the pitch at the moment and is a year really going to make that much of a difference? Strategically I am sure it will be to their benefit, one way or the other.
The Fans
We are respected the world over and I don't believe many clubs have the special bond created between club and fans. We are known for our ability to stand by our club no matter what and we sing you'll never walk alone to re-emphasise the point at any given time.
It worries me though that the special relationship between club and fans is changing. Maybe its just my reaction to our current predicament. I have only really started interacting with the fans and club during this torrid time. Maybe it's down to the new owners or the 'situation' with the new owners. I really don't know but what I do know is that we don't just support 'the team' we support Liverpool Football Club. That means we support the manager, the staff, the players and even the cones used for training. At this moment in time our club needs our support. Not just the team, every level of the club needs our support.
To me that means:
- one huge voice at every game no matter what
- seeing #ynwa trending on twitter during every game
- everyone behind the manager until we're losing like this without clear reasons
- no demonstrations until, at least, we are over our blip
- support for every player whether they are playing good or bad
You see if we do this, if we just concentrate on supporting our club at this moment in time while the chips are down. No one can say that the famous 12th man didn't do his bit!
The Blame Game
There is no one individual to blame for our problems. We have a culmination of factors and errors. We're getting a bit like a soap opera. but don't look for one hook to hang it all on. We win together, we lose together and we stand together always. The blame game is about recognising that multiple factors are causing failure not one.
Some are blaming Rafa, some the owners, some the players, some the fans, some think it's all down to Dirk Kuyt. Add in injuries and poor form and the answer is in there somewhere... spread against all of them, except Dirk Kuyt! Rafa isn't infallible but he is recognised as one of the top managers in the world and he wants to be at Anfield. The owners have made mistakes but the commercial success off the pitch is improving. Some players had bad form but have now improved. Injuries are easing and hopefully the short term problems will be rectified quickly. Longer term I still believe in exactly how things are going now.
I hope the blame game has come to an end with this post, starting at Goodison!
