Let's all laugh at Liverpool

[chenGOD]

Hilarious and delusional. Much like my paper that I'm writing at 4:30 in the morning.

[Guest Rambo]

Recent message on a well known Libpewl fan forum regarding Roy's appointment to England manager:

 

".....If you think of it in the broader context, this is another dig by the FA at Liverpool FC, a figurative slap in the face and a clear indication of the prejudice we (the club) were up against during the Evra FArce...'how dare we sack a nice Establishment man like Roy?!...those Scousers, they're absolute scallies, a disgrace to English football and need to be taught a lesson at the earliest opportunity!'."

 

Wow.

 

yes that's completely mental. Jesus christ.

 

Though, i know which forum that was on (RAWK) and you've missed the part where the other posters where telling him he was a loon.

[Guest Blue Peter Cheat]

Haha, yeah, true.

[Guest Gary C]

http://www.guardian....hampions-league

 

 

Marcus Christenson: two trophies

 

Liverpool have a chance to win their second trophy of the campaign at Wembley on Saturday evening and if they do, it would constitute a good season. Football is about winning. Football is not about coming fourth and qualifying for the Champions League, no matter what financial reward it may bring a club.

Liverpool's league form this season has been awful, there is no question about that. Sitting 34 points behind Manchester United and City hurts. We're eighth in the league. And to think that I was offended at the start of the season when a friend, a Spurs fan, said rather dismissively: "Liverpool are not good enough to finish fourth."

The aim should always be to win the league. And if Liverpool do not win it, then it does not matter if they finish second, third or eighth. The moneymen may disagree but which of the following two seasons would you, as a Liverpool fan, choose to relive? The 2000-01 campaign when Liverpool won the Carling Cup, the FA Cup and the Uefa Cup – or the 2007-08 season when the team finished fourth, lost to Chelsea in the Carling Cup (having thrown on Nabil El Zhar in an attempt to rescue the match) and to Barnsley in the FA Cup? It is an easy choice.

The 2011-12 campaign will be remembered for the two cup runs and the enjoyment they have brought. Seeing Kenny Dalglish's proud smile at Wembley after the win against Cardiff City in the Carling Cup final was worth far more to me than a trip to Paris St-Germain in the Champions League group stage next season would have been.

 

Sachin Nakrani: Champions League

 

Cup successes are not to be sniffed at but in Liverpool's case it is hard to escape the feeling that following up their triumph in the Carling Cup with another in the FA Cup would be akin to putting the roof on a house with cracked and creaking foundations.

There has been a sense of drift about Liverpool ever since they last challenged for the title in 2009 and what the club needs urgently is to rediscover its identity. Supporters hoped that had been achieved when Kenny Dalglish returned as manager 14 months ago but as this season's woeful league campaign has proved, Anfield remains in a rut.

To have qualified for the Champions League would have seen Liverpool re-establish themselves among Europe's elite. That would have given the club a base, financially as well as footballing, from which they could have built towards what has been the burning desire of all Kopites for 22 years now – winning the championship. But next season, from their vantage point in the Europa League and having achieved their lowest league position in living memory, the club are not going to be able to sign the players or build on the momentum they require to challenge for the ultimate prize.

Winning the Carling Cup was superb and so too would be overcoming Chelsea on Saturday. But they are not what Liverpool need right now and I for one would swap both for a return to Europe's top table. It's where we should be, it's where we need to be.

 

I, and presumably most non-Liverpool fans, would agree with the second. Cups is all well and good. No-one (aside from Mourinho*) would turn down a trophy, but Liverpool have been in decline for a few years and they need the financial rewards of top European football to claw their way back into the ever-competitive top four.

 

It's the same with Arsenal and Tottenham. I think Chelsea could ride it out for a season, but Arsenal and Spurs would undoubtedly lose their best players (RVP, Walcott(?), Bale, Modric) and, aside from some promising youngsters or crafty deals, would be left with a lesser team.

 

*

[Guest Rambo]

i sympathise with both sides of the argument and from what i've seen Liverpool fans are split on what they would ideally prefer. I think in a sense it shows how much money has warped the game because, really, the choice between actually winning things rather than qualifying for a tournament the following year that you are highly unlikely to win (which actually goes for all English teams every year and the statistics obviously back that up) should be a no brainer. That's not the whole picture though obviously because the financial health of a club is now the main issue for every team.

[chenGOD]

Talking about statistics and winning the CL - every team is statistically unlikely to win the thing.

[Guest Rambo]

Yeah of course. im not making a point about england specifically

 

edit. on a related note though, i'd bet Liverpool has one of the best champions league/eurpoean cup qualification to win ratios out there.

[Guest Gary C]

Dalglish has left/been-sacked.

[dr lopez]

good choice - man clearly wasn't doing things right.

[tec]

lol

[Guest Rambo]

meh i'm not gonna lie, no idea what the right decision is. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[Npoess]

I think it show some balls and determination from the Fenway Sports Group. And that's what Liverpool need right now. It wasn't really going anywhere with Kenny.

[YO303]

Its gonna be Martinez probably.

 

Edit: Villas-Boas is favourite, thats a huge risk that can pay-off.

[Guest Blue Peter Cheat]

RT @mrjohncoyne: Red outside Anfield;

 

"Problem with Kenny is you should never go back"

 

Reporter: "Who would you have now?"

 

"Rafa"

[Guest Rambo]

flol

 

loads of people want Rafa apparently. I think it's because all the other candidates are uninspiring.

[Npoess]

[jhonny]

Martinez is a sexy man.

[Guest Gary C]

lol, it's gonna be Martinez then. Not a bad choice, tbh.

 

Liverpool aren't really capable of winning the Premier League or Champions League for a couple of years so it's unlikely they'd interest the best available managers like Guardiola, Villas Boas and Mourinho*.

Martinez is a very capable manager with many good years ahead of him. He deserves a better team than Wigan. I doubt he'll make his name at Liverpool, but it will certainly be a step towards a decent opportunity for him.

Realistically Liverpool are likely to battle for 4/5 place next season and maybe win the League Cup again. Martinez is used to getting the best out of Wigan and surviving relegation battles for the past 4 years, so he should be capable of steering Liverpool through a period of evolution.

 

*Just signed with Real Madrid til 2016 anyway.

[Npoess]

How can Villas-Boas be considered a "best available manager" after what happened at Chelsea.

 

I don't understand why anyone would want the Liverpool job. Way too much pressure and urealistic expectations, not enough potential in the squad as it looks now. And the Fenway Group can't afford to spend as much money as they did in the last transfer-window. Right?

 

They've been turned down by Rodgers, De Boer, Klopp so far. Smart people.

 

But Martinez seem like a good fit. But he is going to need time. Everybody involved with liverpool should try to have some patience this time around.

[Guest Blue Peter Cheat]

I think 6th is the highest they can possibly hope for; they're in the same grouping as Newcastle, Everton, Fulham and Stoke. The sooner their fanbase accept that the better (for them, not for the laughing onlookers). Man City, Man U, Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea are all streets ahead of them and all look like they'll be investing big cash again this summer.

 

The new manager will have a very tough job.

 

Reinvigorating the side by selling/releasing stupidly paid deadwood (Cole, Aquilani, etc) and trying to keep hold of their better players (Suarez - although arguably it'd be better to sell and reinvest the cash. I don't like Skrtel but apparently other teams are after him too) who are angling for moves.

 

Trying to get the best out of their overpaid recent signings while adjusting to life without Gerrard and possibly Suarez. (Not that the former is leaving but that his powers are waning).

 

Coping with the unrealistic expectations of a deluded fanbase who are still trying to come to terms with the fact that their club is primarily a business and is no different from the majorty of others. A manager without prior Libpewl Football Cult connections is a window to reality. The deniers don't like that.

 

Accepting 'moneyball' and a dilution of responsibilities if FSG continue with their recent business structure.

 

Basically starting from scratch with little if any initial cash to spend, lots of problems on the field, problem players like Suarez and potentially Gerrard. Fans expecting the impossible while waiting for the first sign of failure before they march from a pub they were going to be at anyway to a ground where they were going anyway. Possible trigger happy owners. Tough.

[jhonny]

Liverpool have some good youngsters (Pacheco, Coates, Raheem Sterling (who is quality), Jack Robinson) so perhaps bringing them through pretty quickly would be smarter, using cash from 1 or 2 players to buy 3 or 4 and getting rid of some deadwood would re-balance the squad.

[Guest Rambo]

@blue peter

 

i love this idea that not all fanbases have unrealistic expectations of what they can achieve the following year lol. Those Liverpool fans, hey? What are they like!

[Guest Rambo]

Coping with the unrealistic expectations of a deluded fanbase who are still trying to come to terms with the fact that their club is primarily a business and is no different from the majorty of others.

 

Okay i only skimmed originally. Wtf are you waffling on about please? Cheers

[jhonny]

Get your point Rambo, but RAWK seems utterly mental

@RAWK_Meltdown

[Guest Blue Peter Cheat]

Coping with the unrealistic expectations of a deluded fanbase who are still trying to come to terms with the fact that their club is primarily a business and is no different from the majorty of others.

 

Okay i only skimmed originally. Wtf are you waffling on about please? Cheers

 

Haha, alright I know not ALL lfc supporters are like this but this is the 'let's all laugh at Liverpool' thread, right?

 

Honestly though... there seems to be a pervading sense of entitlement right the way through the club (new owners excluded). I've read lots of comments from the vocal elements of the fanbase that suggest they think they're a 'special' club, a 'special' case. They're not. The 'Liverpool Way' and all the myths and legends are just that, myths and legends. Nostalgia for a bygone era when they were the darlings of British football and a club was more of a club than a business. Sadly that's why others find lfc's recent challenging times amusing. There seems to be a lot of delusion and hypocrisy within the fanbase, exacerbated by the semi-myth of (the city of) Liverpool's identity as apart from the rest of England. This seperateness - which sometimes manifests itself in a victim mentality - also seems to be more pronounced among lfc fans. But I'm a Blue so I'm bound to say that.