Holding ourselves to account

Chewie · October 8, 2012

As supporters we do a lot of holding others to account for what they do on and off the pitch. Players, managers, owners get evaluated, but by what standard, and why does it seem to shift so easily. This season I think we've been guilty of not holding ourselves to account for the standards we once held to be appropriate for this football club. Now, don't get me wrong, this is not about saying 'but simply because we are Liverpool we should be winning the league'. Plenty of clubs who were once at the top of the pyramid are now languishing in the Championship or below. We have no right to success, but we have no right to justify, with alarming ease, what is nothing short that a tectonic movement in the aspirations of this football club.

Going into 2011-12 we had expectations raised by the return of Kenny to the sidelines and a 3 year contract. A lot of us not only hoped, but reasoned, that given Kenny's track record over his career, the results during his caretaker months, a more experienced Suarez and a fitter Carroll, that we could be on target for a CL attaining 70 pts. If we got more than this, fine. If less, then the season needed to be judged accordingly. What happened? Well, these things have to be taken in sequence because momentum plays a huge part in football.. the pattern, as it appeared to me, was this:

- a really solid start, followed by some mixed results, but on the whole very organised defensively and hamstrung by an awful chance to conversion ration. We battered some teams and did not get the result we deserved. We played as well in the first 2-3 months of last season as in the first 1-2 months of this (will come back to this)

- Lucas injury followed by the entire mis-management of the Suarez affair led to a more turbulent middle section (Dec-Feb)

- in the middle of this time we put a focus together on being a cup team and won a trophy, the first in 5 seasons

- in the aftermath of the cup, and being decimated by injuries, reeling from the Suarez stuff, we had some bad results. Question marks over Comolli and Kenny led to one sacking. One poor result led to another as confidence eroded. In the last 3 months we saw any real semblance of pattern, formation, direction, dissipate in front of our eyes (it is this we remember the most when benchmarking style now -v- style 'under Kenny).

- notwithstanding this we had another trip to Wembley, saw the emergence of Carroll as a bit of a beast, and we got to the end of the season knowing questions needed to be asked and answered.

On balance the decision was taken to part ways with Kenny. It was a truly sad moment. the man remains a living legend, and the past few weeks of the Justice campaign and the release of the docs should engrain, if ever it were needed, just how iconic that man is to this football club. For better or worse though that decision was made and that decision had consequences.

the first of these was financial. The cost of replacing management teams is huge, and has had a significant impact on our overall budget.

the second was expectations. Upon parting ways with Kenny we were justified in expecting the following:

1. There was a bounce in the points return of the players already at the club. Under fresh management that team had another 12-14 points in it alone. Woodwork and penalties followed by the momentum that good results brings along would be a difference.

2. Any new manager coming in needed to get at least as much as Kenny in the league, otherwise, why change. Furthermore, this has to be the aim now, not 2 years from now.

3. the team had suffered from under investment from 2008 onwards leaving it unbalanced, but nonetheless was not filled with atrocious players.

4. FSG seemed really intent on a management structure that would ensure continuity at the club regardless of who was the first team 'coach'. This seemed wise.

5. In Borrell and Segura we had a great team in the background

In summary I was fully expecting a really well put together management structure with a good coach / manager at the helm of the first team. I further expected the minimum target to be a bounce of 12-14 points on last season.

What I was not expecting, and yet what we all seem to have come to rationalise and justify, is any of the following:

1. That we were at such a low ebb in our history that we needed rebuilding and finishing 7-8th would be ok as long as we played well..

2. That the whole management structure of the club - first team, medical, reserves etc.. would be organised around a new boss with no CEO / DOF / Chief Technical oversight. For a group like FSG who seek to minimise risk through the use of stats and shrewd management this is the most riskiest of all the possible outcomes. If this does not work out the whole infrastructure needs changed again

3. That we would be convincing ourselves that playing well and losing was a sign of progress. Last year we played well and got a lot of draws. In many years we have witnessed plucky teams who 'play football the right way' and 'who are good to watch', yet who end up going down. It is actually quite easy to play football in this league. Hull managed it. Blackpool managed it. The aim though is to win football games, and winning those tends to help you play well.

4. That a team supposedly at our stage of progress could honestly have debates about the merits of 'false no. 9s' Seriously, it has taken Barca and Spain many years of winning top flight games to develop players and systems capable of this level of dominance.

5. that we would be so stunningly stupid as to allow Carroll to leave without having a signature on paper as a replacement. Further, that we would throw his price tag back in his face by alluding to being able to expect a £35million striker to play in any system, when we are on record as saying his price tag is meaningless, it was a basic in-out transaction adjusted for whatever figure we got for Torres

I think we have not held ourselves to account, and in so doing could be perilously close to being played for fools. I'm not saying this is what Rodgers is trying to do, but I would fall short of exonerating FSG in this.

I like Rodgers, I think it's great to see the kids playing. I think we play some nice attractive football. I think he has bought an excellent player in Allen, but as yet does not know what to do with Borini, the player he said would get goals. I think he's been handed a thankless job in colluding with the Fox documentary, and I think he genuinely wants to be very successful here.

I don't however, think we were as bad as he needs us to believe we were.

I don't think this season can be just let go by as a period in transition.

i think the players he had at his disposal in coming to the club needed adjusting but as a collective unit with one or two additions could have been capable of 70 points

I don't think we have 1-2 seasons to play with. The longer we are in the 6-8 position in the league the harder it will be to ever get in the sort of forward who can score the goals we need.

The stadium issue remains unresolved. There is a significant question mark on the willingness of the owners to back the manager in the transfer market. And there remains no significant management of the club from a footballing perspective, other than that brought by Rodgers himself.

Absolutely none of this would have been anticipated or justified in May. Not one bit of it, and not at the expense of losing Kenny.

Yet drift we have. And justify we have. And reason we have. And at times it sounds clever, and insightful, and perhaps allows us to think we're the only ones who can really see something happening... but at the end of the day, it's a simple game. And in that simple game results matter. there are no games that can be sacrificed. Only the very best can pick and choose, and yet they seem to end up playing in all the big games at the end of the season. No matter what they pick, they seem to choose right. It is getting harder to come on here when you read posters saying they've never been as content as they have in recent times walking away from Anfield having been beaten. Beaten. Or after another disappointing home result to see the fumbling for excuses and scapegoats, usually fringe substitutes who were barely on long enough to make any difference. This is not us. This can't be us. This is still Liverpool, isn't it? Are we actually the ones who are guilty of betraying what this club is all about? Have we colluded with the lowering of expectations?

For as long as Brendan Rodgers is manager of Liverpool Football Club I shall hope for nothing less than the very best for him and the team. Unequivocal. But playing football the 'brendan rodgers way' or adhering to his ethos, is not going to make me lower my expectations on what this club should be aiming for this season. In May, things changed. In my mind they have to be better on the pitch both in terms of playing and results... and we need to hold this team, owners and players to account. Unless of course, we change our minds... maybe we don't need to win after all...

Molby · October 8, 2012

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