“Houllier Out”… “Sack Houllier”… “The sooner he goes the better”… I have heard, or read all those statements in the past few weeks, and in my mind, it simply defies belief.
It seems that too many fans nowadays want instant success. In their minds it seems that unless we win the League every season, then we need to chance the management. Liverpool FC’s success has been built on forward planning and continuity. There is no such thing as a quick fix, as the likes of Blackburn, Newcastle, and now Leeds show, as they tried to build too quickly, without the foundations to base it on, and as such were forced to re-structure, and go through a period of recovery after the initial boom.
At the moment, Liverpool Football Club is in a healthy state off the pitch. They are not living beyond their means. They have wonderful facilities at the training ground, many of which incidentally have been brought in and overseen by Houllier. They have a young, hungry squad of players on the pitch. They have a state of the art academy. The foundations are being put in place, and much of this has happened during Houllier’s reign.
When Newcastle made their brief dart up the league, one of the decisions Keegan undertook was to scrap the Reserve team. This led to many problems, not least young players leaving, as they had no opportunity to shine, and squad players struggling, as they weren’t playing competitive games. The Geordies who idolise Keegan so much treated Dalglish shabbily, but they should be grateful for one thing Kenny did. On his first day he insisted they bring back the reserves, and also set out a policy on Youth Development. Although he wasn’t there long enough to reap the benefits, Newcastle United are. That is planning for a better future.
At the moment, our current squad is the best since we last won the league. Houllier has assembled a capable, and competent squad, all of whom are willing to work their socks off for the cause. Having seen some of the lacklustre displays of the mid 90’s where the football at times seemed to be a distraction, it is very refreshing to see a bunch of dedicated players trying their hearts out every week.
There are still improvements that need to be made, and Houllier knows this better than anyone, but you can only buy the players that are available and who want to come. You can try your best to persuade them, but if they don’t want to join, then what can you do?? You can’t force them to sign! If you could it is fair to say that we would have a new right midfielder and left-winger in our squad this season. As it happens, that is not the case so we have to deal with it as best as we can, and look elsewhere at other potential transfer prospects.
After the progress we have made in recent years, finishing one place higher in the league each season, it seemed the natural progression that we would finish 1st this season. My first point is that we are only in September, and there is a hell of a lot of football to be played. Who knows what is going to happen between now and May? My second point is that everyone knows that the last step is the hardest. Making the step up from second to first is hard, and it takes a lot of preparation, hard work, and dedication. It also sometimes needs time and patience.
All I ask for, in both management staff and players, is effort and improvement. If a player gives 100% in every game, and also shows signs of improvement and development of their game, then that is all we, as fans, can ask for. Just look at how Carragher has worked on his left peg, Murphy has become half a yard quicker, Owen can use his left foot, and Baros has lost a few pounds. All these are signs of dedication, and a will to further improve themselves.
Nobody said it would be easy, yet it seems some fans think we have a divine right to success. As Liverpool fans we have been spoiled over the years, with successes that other teams can only dream about, yet still fans want more. It is only right that fans should want their team to be the best, but there is a difference between wanting success, willing the team on, and doing your utmost to help the team achieve it, and sitting there waiting for it to be put on a platter in front of you. I sometimes wonder whether elements of our support are holding us back, and are actually proving to be a barrier between us and the next step.
Take Danny Murphy for example. If you compare his performances last season away from home compared to at home, then I am sure you would find he performs a lot better, and more consistently away from home. It could be argued that this is due to the slightly different style we have away from home, and there is probably truth in that. I wonder how much of it comes from the confidence factor, in that away from home he can try things without fear of retribution, whereas in homes games at the back of his mind he is thinking that the first mistake he makes will cause the crowd to take exception to him. It is a good job Murphy is such a strong character, as the treatment he receives at times could have broken a lesser man. Anyone who was at Old Trafford the Wednesday after the Southampton debacle last season will have seen from Danny’s reaction how much he wants, needs, and appreciates our support.
Anyway… back to Ged.
There seems to be a shift in the mentality of many fans recently, whereby rather than looking at all the good Houllier has done, it seems to be the trend to pick up on his mistakes and escalate them. I am not saying he is infallible, and in my eyes there have certainly been mistakes made by Houllier, but as long as he learns from them we will be alright in the long term. Also… show me a manager who hasn’t made a few mistakes!!
Everything can be looked in either a positive or negative way, no matter what it is:
For instance… the sale of Steven Wright… is that the loss of a promising youngster, or getting £3m for our FOURTH choice right back?
Is the resting of Owen a bad tactical decision, or looking after the long-term health of our prize asset?
Is playing Heskey on the left while having a midfielder up-front, mismanagement, or in pursuit of making Liverpool a more flexible, adaptable team?
Did the selling of Westerveld send out a bad message to players, or was it a necessary move to ensure the keeper position is in safe hands for the next 10 years?
I guess on all the decisions that Houllier makes he will be judged on his success, and he needs both time and support to help him achieve both his, and our goals.
After the treble season, comparisons were made between Houllier and the great Bill Shankly. I don’t think that is fair to either man as Shanks is a legend in his own right, and Houllier is his own man, and is more than deserving of a great reputation of his own. Success didn’t come immediately for Shanks; it took a lot of hard work to achieve what he did. Also, having won two league titles in ’64 and ’66 we had to wait seven years for our next trophy. After that, having won three trophies in his last two seasons, Paisley took over and proceeded to oversee the most successful period in ours, or any other clubs history. Yet many still think Shankly as our greatest manager, despite Paisley’s record being far superior. Why is that? The only explanation is that people realise how far Shankly took us, and how he created the foundation and base for Liverpool to build on, ensuring future success. Is that role none too dissimilar to that of what Houllier is currently doing??
Look at how things stood when he took charge! A brief look at the players who were playing when he joined is testimony enough as to the turnaround job Houllier has done. Maybe it will prove to be the case that someone else will come along and finish off the great work Houllier has done, who knows? One thing I can foresee is that it seems that Houllier may well not get the credit for all he has done until after he has gone.
I could run through the comparisons between Day 1 of Houllier reign and today, but there are so many of them, and so many in his favour, both on and off the pitch, that I will restrict myself to three:
Compare the calibre of player in each team.
Win, draw or lose… always the first on the booze v A highly profession and dedicated squad.
A laughing stock, ‘Keystone Kops’ headlines, and much mocking v a side respected throughout Europe, rebuilding its truly great reputation.
We have come a long way, and now it is hard, if not impossible to keep on making the advances we made in the first part of Houllier’s reign, but the hard work, and the improvement goes on.
Last season, many fans were moaning that the team was too defensive, to negative, and not creating enough chances. This season the team is very positive, attacking, and creating chances galore. Unfortunately we have also started shipping goals in at the back. It is all about balance! Once we get the balance between the attacking and the defensive side, we will be even more formidable. That will come in time. The team is still learning, and if our strikers had have had their shooting boots on we would have been laughing, as the games we have thrown away would have been out of sight. As has been said many times before “Class is permanent, form is temporary”. With this in mind it is only a matter of time before Owen starts scoring again, and if we can coincide that with tightening up at the back, things will be looking very good indeed.
Another thing to remember is the standard we are up against. The current Arsenal side is the best side I have seen since our fantastic side of ’88, with Barnes, Beardsley et al. We must give credit to Arsene Wenger and co for assembling such a good side, and as such remember how hard it will be to beat them to the title. Mind you, even Wenger has been known to make a mistake or two…. Jeffers, Wright, Stepanovs, Wreh etc. They can’t get it right all the time, and for every dud, there is a Vieira, Henry, and Ljungberg to compensate. For Houllier read Diomede, Ziege, and Ferri against Hyypia, Henchoz, Riise and Hamann. Whisper it quietly, but even Shanks may have bought a dud or two!
I saw a quote somewhere a couple of days ago… I can’t remember who it was, nor the exact words, but it went something like this:
When I was growing up I was taught certain ‘rules’ for supporting Liverpool:
Always support the team, no matter how bad they are playing.
If the team is doing badly, cheer even louder as they need your support more.
If a player is struggling, sing his name louder and more often as he needs it.
If the opposition are the better side and perform well, appreciate it and give them the credit they are due.
I am both proud and lucky to be able to say that a similar set of rules was passed down to me from my dad, and my older brother, who in turn had them instilled in them from their elders. I suppose that is the whole idea of “getting your education form The Kop”. Unfortunately it seems that today’s trend is to “get your education from ‘You’re on Sky Sports’”, a programme by it’s mere nature which is always going to attract a more radical (and clueless?) clientele. Think of it this way… we lose and don’t perform that well. Person A thinks, “Well… it was a one off, it is only one game in a season, we are still there or there abouts… there’s always next week.” Person B thinks “that is a disgrace… how dare Liverpool lose to somebody… we should be winning EVERY game... who is to blame?” Who is going to call into a talk show? And if they both do, who would get on, as they are controversial, and as such boost ratings?? EXACTLY!!! Yet it seems many people seem to think that way of thinking is the norm, when in reality it is the exception.
The sale of Robbie Fowler last season is an example. I am yet to find one regular ‘home and awayer’ who thinks we definitely shouldn’t have sold Fowler. There are many who are sad to see him go, and I myself was gutted (though more because I wasn’t that sad to see him go if you see what I mean), but no one I have spoken to thinks that Fowler was the future of this club. If ‘You’re on Sky Sports’, ‘6-0-6’, and other letters pages of similar ilk we’re to be taken any notice off, many would be forgiven for thinking that every Liverpool supporter was outraged at Fowler’s sale, and thinks he is better than Owen. The sad thing is that many Liverpool supporters take this on board as how other fans are thinking, rather than treating the clueless muppets who tend to phone in with the contempt they deserve. How often does it start ‘I wasn’t at the match today, but….” And result in a rant against the ‘Usual Suspects’, Carragher/Murphy/Heskey/Smicer/Xavier?? How do they know how they played if they weren’t there??
I think we are in desperate need of a change. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, and to let others know their opinion… after all, I am doing just that now!! But it must be done in a constructive way, and be backed up by a rational argument. Mindless rants against the ‘Usual Suspects’ that are not backed up by either fact or rationale is not what the beautiful game is about.
The ‘I pay my money, I am entitled to rant and rave’ mentality annoys me as well. The club doesn’t choose you. You choose the club, and like everything else in life…. If you don’t like it the sod off!! These people who supposedly want what is best for the club, don’t seem to realise that their actions are in some small way not helping matters, and actually holding the club back. There is a time and a place!!
I am not saying we want a support of rose-tinted yes-men where all decisions, personnel changes, and tactics are never questioned, and everything is always accepted. That would be equally destructive. What we certainly don’t need is people who are always looking at the negative aspect of things, are never happy, and generally don’t contribute to ‘the cause’. I am going to be a bigheaded get and say that my support, and supporting the team is what I do, cheering the players on, encouraging, and the like is worth 10 of the moaners!! I am sure that most people that read this feel the same!! It is the same old case of preaching to the converted (if I was to get through to Sky all the moaners would probably accuse me of being a puppet for the club or something). Just compare the end of game reaction of the players towards our fans at away games compared to home ones to see that!
An example of this happened just last weekend at Bolton. There was a fella behind us, he seemed to have a broad (and very loud) Yorkshire accent, and I have never heard such crap come out of anyone’s mouth as his. Danny Murphy kept up his excellent form of recent weeks, yet his first mistake (he slightly mis-controlled a difficult pass, yet won the 50-50 challenge and laid the ball off) was pounced upon with a cry of “Fcuk off Murphy, you’re bloody useless”. By now I knew I had a muppet in our mists, but what followed after Baros’ first effort (that hit the post) was unbelievable. This fella was calling him all the names under the sun… “How can you miss a one-on-one?” … “That’s useless”… and other such crap. Baros was unlucky as he hit the inside of the post, having not panicked, and would soon be showing us how to finish not long after. Not surprisingly a fella nearby took exception and told him to shut up and support the team or else fcuk off!! We joined in telling the fella having a go at the muppet we agreed with every word, and that the moaner was out of order. What worried me most is that this fella though he was the one in the right… even muttering to himself when the replay of the missed effort was on at half time! I dread to think what he had to say about Owen’s missed chances of the last few games!! Needless to say when Baros’ scored more than a few glares and words were exchanged in his direction, and we were not too surprised to find that he didn’t actually sing, encourage, nor do anything that I would deem as ‘support’ the team. He had a teenage lad there, who I fear for, as if the is the footballing education that he is getting, then he will turn out the same!
I am nearing the end of my defence of Houllier and the team, and it has suddenly dawned on me. We are not even in October and I feel obliged to write something in defence of Le Boss!! That in itself is a joke, and a sad reflection on things.
With the backing of the fans, positive support, and a sense of belief this team can go on to achieve great things. I have faith in Houllier. He doesn’t always get it right, but in my eyes he is BY FAR the best man for the job!! And if you think any differently, then I would love to hear whom you would rather have. O’Neill?? Got his eyes on another job. Dalglish?? Never go back. Gullit or Keegan?? No thanks!! Erm… well… who else is there? I ask you all this… is there ANYONE out there available who you would rather have as the boss? I know the answer is no, so lets get behind Houllier, he has done wonders so far, and is capable of helping us take that next step. I would hate to look back at these times in the future and have a feeling of unfulfilled potential. With the backing of the players and staff I am sure we can fulfil our potential, and make that next, but difficult step.
There’s a long way to go this season… There’s going to be some highs. There’s going to be some lows, but either way, lets not over-react, lets keep things in perspective, and all work together to taking Liverpool Football Club to the heights where they belong!