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| The horror! |
Let's have it right, kopites - you've had this coming for years. My lot - Everton - are no better but it doesn't make the shitness of Liverpool any less enjoyable because of the way the 'faithful' are responding to it.
The absolute disbelief and feeling of it being just massively unfair - we had this years ago. Everton were one of the prime movers behind the formation of the Premier League and in terms of timing, their descent from 'big five' (ask your dads, kiddywinks) status to relegation battles and all round crudness, couldnt have been worse. But at the time football coverage was sparser, although growing, so in terms of supporter buffoonery, it was less of a public spectacle. Although there were a few ace phone-ins on Radio Merseyside about what was to be done about Everton, with one woman demanding the players be physically beaten to learn them.
Back then - say, early to mid 1990s - it was still a novelty to see supporters in the ground long after the final whistle, staring in desolation at a pitch long since deserted except for ground staff forking idly at the turf. Now it's compulsory - because people JUST CARE SO MUCH! You can tell they have more of an understanding of football than the rest of us by the way they refer to 'Liverpool Football Club' rather than just Liverpool, which helps us in case we're confused and think they're talking about the chamber of commerce, architecture or shops.
Then of course there's supporters' message boards and radio phone ins but there you generally find it's the proper cranks making the most noise, so as a barometer of supporter opinion they're worthless.
When papers report what's going on in these outlets as being in any way representative of what supporters think, they're way off. While these sites and shows have grown massively in popularity it's still a minority that use them. There's a good story on a similar theme at the excellent Mudhutter website - and they're Wigan supporters so if you kopites or whoever think you know shit they can probably put you right.
Much of the ho-ha about Liverpool seems to be around Roy Hodgson not being up to, or 'big enough for', the job. That's a matter of debate but his record bears scrutiny, and as for the suggestion he's only done well at smaller clubs, would it be naughty of me to suggest he's now at a mid-table club who need a manager who can work on a budget?
Because if reports of the new owners at Anfield are even slightly accurate, and John Henry is a keen advocate of Billy Beane's methods in baseball with the Oakland Athletics, then Liverpool's 'resurrection', if it comes, will be slow and under fairly rigid budget restraints (wot, no Aquilanis?).
All of which means more kopites whining and, hopefully, a lot more of this.
