Whatever happened to Liverpool FC?

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First we saw a very lacklustre performance at home which saw us lose by a single goal to nil against bottom of the league, Wolves, who simply wanted to win the game more than we seemed to and the end result just showed that to be true. We then played Bolton and it was Bolton who scored first in the game, leaving us wondering if we were going to record yet another defeat, but in the second half we played better and got back into the game and even managed to salvage a last minute winner to save our blushes.

After that result I thought that we might have turned a bit of a corner and that we would get something against Blackburn in our next game, but they punished our shocking attempts at defending, and went in 2-0 ahead at half-time. We were never going to recover from that, the way we had been playing of late, and not even a late surge by Steven Gerrard could save us (although how he managed to miss that penalty I will never know) from losing yet another match.

We are now 12th in the table, level on points with Everton, but with a game in hand. I just don’t know what to say about us at the moment, there is very little that can really be said about the last three or four games that we have played, at least nothing positive. We just aren’t playing very well at all, and we just don’t seem to be getting any better. If anything we are getting a little worse, if that is possible!

I am now of the opinion that on a results basis then Roy Hodgson should probably stop being our manager, but I am not sure if a new man could really make that much of a difference with the same squad of players that we have now. The current squad just don’t seem to want to play for the manager (which is never a good sign), they seem to be playing badly on purpose, and will that change if we have a new manager in charge?

Yes, we might get a few new faces in the transfer window but who is to say that they will gel with the current crop of players quick enough to make much of a difference. Whatever does happen I don’t think that much will be done this season. I thought that this season might well be a struggle for us and that finishing higher than we did last season would have been difficult and it looks like I was right, however the way we are going we could finish even lower than we did last season, perhaps not even in the top half of the table, which is quite possible given our results of late, even if we did get a new manager in the next few days, which is looking more likely by the day.

All I want to see is a Liverpool squad playing as a unit and who want to win every game that they play. Is that really too much to ask for?

28 Comments

  1. I think Stevie missed because he was nervous. Watch the close up on his face as he stepped up for the kick. I think the pressure was on him to make it so the team might have a shot at a draw, and he blew it. Honestly, the pressure on that man has to be unbearable. He can’t save the team forever.

  2. What happened is we never nipped the problem at the bud before it bloomed in our faces. It’s been one wrong move after the other. We’re now reacting to survive and not to excel. Smartest and sharpest fans with the stupidest and dullest management.

  3. glen johnston and soto r absoulute rubbish at defending and kelly n agger should be starting every game if kelly is good enough to play against chelsea then he is good enough to play anybody ynwa

  4. A change of manager will definitely have an impact. Hodgson is not a good manager, his record has proven this. He is a journeyman manager.

  5. Good article, I actually feel sorry Hodgson as the squad has never looked upto since he took over or before tbh.
    It’s time players were disciplined for performance on pitch aswell and docked wages as too many seem too happy to collect their and sit on bench every week.

  6. Bring RIJKAARD Now, We all know where and whom caused us to low us down to that level, but WHERE ARE NESV ?!!!, seems like they don’t even care have any one seen any official announcement? NOTHING as usual!!! Strange really begining to feel that the club is left with careless in both managerial and supporting issues.
    Why don’t they respond to our requests?
    Why don’t they show any concern?
    Why is Roy still managing?
    Have not seen any support since they take over!!! Why?
    How is football strategy director responsible for transfer new players, while a new manager should come and may have different plans and tactics??!!!!

  7. I can see us playing at places like Preston next season if this lot don’t get their act together and dump Hodgson.

  8. can the rent a quote legends (some so called) who say back roy just get lost and shut up. especially kegan never been back and mcmanaman non legend evertonian,

  9. can i say a big thank you to blackburn rovers and wolverhampton fc for helping to rid us of hodgson. a very very small price to pay.

  10. Unconfirmed reports emerging on both Radio 5 and Twitter that a sevence package has been sorted today and the announcment of hodgsons sacking will be done tomorrow!

  11. Where did it all go wrong? It begun to go wrong when John Moores sold the club to Gillette and Hicks and not to D.C.I.
    Just look at the money being invested in Man. city by a member of the Dubai royal family. If you sold a buisnes that you wanted to succeed would you sell it to Del Trotter or Alan Sugar?

  12. I feel sorry for Gerrard, Torres, and Carragher. There is too much burden on these three extraordinary players. If they don’t play well, the whole team just sit down. It’s like only 3 players are playing for LFC. I can’t see any Liverpool spirit like once we showed with the likes of ALONSO, RIISE, HYPPIA,… Take Istanbul final for example. Every player is playing for money, and not for LFC.
    I hope that we will get our glory days back, we have seen the worse. And certainly we need a new manager and some fresh new faces in our squad. YNWA.

  13. to be fair DIC no longer exist – closed down after the banking crisis in dubai! lucky escape……kind of.

  14. it all started back in 1991. kenny left a sinking shipback in 91. hillsbough took a huge toll on him which is completely understanable as it did on all of us of that generation and beyond. cant just blame souness, he took over an old squad with rush & barnes & whelan having severe long term injury problems meaning he was forced to change things too quickly. but the main reason for our decline in my opinion was that money became a major issue in the game and our world marketing was streets behind man uniteds etc. we let the “new money movement” in the game with the advent of sky etc pass us by and failed to capitalise on our market potential unlike our rivals. we rested on our lorals and now without a suger daddy we will fail to compete. grim but relalistic. smith, moores, parry etc let us down badly – especially in the huge asian markets where although the biggest supported club – you cant find a lfc shop.

  15. I dont know how much more I can take!
    what has happened to us. we got rid of two clowns (H+G) and replaced them with one of the most average managers possible. In Hodgsons defence he never was gonna make it, we just never wanted him, for reasons that now are so abhorrently clear. I understand NESV allowing him time, but lets face it, thats not because they believe in him, its because they probably never have heard of any SOCCER managers. 6 months gone, we’re playing worse, have no team spirit and look like relegation candidates.
    NESV sort it out! I dont need to mention who we the FANS (your bread n butter) want.It may not change anything but at least we’d be happier. As for the legends backing him, that I feel is borne out of sympathy for a struggling manager, Rush struggled, Keegan struggled and does anyone remember John barnes cameo at celtic?

    Dalglish now! Dalglish now! Dalglish now! Dalglish now! Dalglish now! Dalglish now! Dalglish now! Dalglish now! Dalglish now! Dalglish now! Dalglish now! Dalglish now! Dalglish now! Dalglish now! Dalglish now! Dalglish now!

  16. Good point Phil!

    I’m from the south, (dont hate me) near Windsor to be exact,and I know hundreds of LFC fans down here, seriously you wouldn’t believe how many there are of us! so why is the closest LFC shop Chester! open one in London, not only will it p*ss of the London clubs and fans, but there is a massive market for international tourists, it could have a small museum to promote the club and its history, loads of merchandise, a pub could open nearby for travelling fans, guaranteed as it stands 5 fixtures a season down here!

    LFC are massive – we need to capitalise on it!

  17. @Jimmyb

    Totally agree, I could definitely see a LFC shop in London being a huge hit. London is a must stop spot for tourist, Liverpool necessarily isn’t. A good way to reach new fans or like you said the traveling fans. Also, since we are on marketing, I live in the US and always watch the games on FSC and every other big team has adds on the screen for their US based merchandise store (ArsenalStoreUSA.com, ChelseaMegastoreUSA.com, etc) but there is no Liverpool equivalent. We need to reach out more to other market areas, spread the name, more followers, more income!

  18. my point exactly Chas – its the same all over the world – in 1990 we were the most supported english club in the us and the far east but now you see arsenal, chelsea, manure, tottenam shops but no lfc ones – also for 18 years we could not promote or sell shirts + other merchandise in the far east & asia (the worlds most lucrtive markets)because our sponser was carslberg and promotion of alchohol is banned ?

  19. Philip, I think where we went wrong was not investing into either ground redevelopment or into a new stadium prior to the switch to the English PL from the old division 1. The mancs read it well and reaped the rewards.
    Thank god we’ve had Stevie and Carra. Even if the 2 of them never kicked a ball in anger again for LFC they are legends to us. We’ll bounce back.

  20. @Philip – You’ve hit the nail on the head. The club just hasn’t kept up with the changing face of football. I’m in Queensland, Australia and I can walk into my local shopping centre and pick up a $5 ball branded with United, Chelsea or Arsenal. I have *never* seen an LFC one in the last ~15 years. Simple things like that highlight how little market penetration the LFC brand actually has, and that has a direct effect on club finances.

    We can try to blame everything on Hodgson and H&G but the reality is that the entire club structure needs to be looked at. Youth policy & training, current players, future players, financial management, stadium, ticket pricing, overseas promotion, settling back on a footballing philosophy. I could probably go on further.

    I cringe slightly whenever I see the championing of Dalglish to take over management of the club. I could possibly see an avenue in a purely caretaker role but it still smells strongly of trying to live in the past while ignoring the true issues.

  21. I REQUEST ALL RED FANS TO STEP AND STOP THE TALKS OF ALL FORMER LIVERPOOL PLAYERS TRYING TO PREVENT HODGSON FROM BEING SACKED!!!!!! UNBELEIVABLE AS IF THE OLD AGED HODGSON FRIENDS ARE STANDING BY HIM, I TOTALLY GIVE MY RESPECT TO THEM BUT I DO NOT KNOW WHAT WORLD ARE THEY LIVING IN !!!

    WHAT IS THEIR RELLATION NOW?!WHY WE DIDN’T HEAR THEIR TALKS IN MANY ISSUES HAPPEND BEFORE IN THE CLUB?
    CANT THEY SEE WHAT’S HAPPINING OR THEY HAVE ADVANTAGE IF ROY STAYS?
    SOMETHING FISHY IS GOING ON THAT’S WHAT I HONESTLY FEEL

    RIJKAARD TO REDS PLEASE NESV STOP THE TALKS AND ACT NOW

  22. it’s still 6th january and we actually turn this season around..NESV must act fast if they care about the club..Bring in a top class manager(available is Rijkaard),send Poulsen and Konchesky to Fulham and West ham and recover some of the most badly spent money ever,and buy 2 or 3 players the manager with Comolli finds well to help the team..Manager:Frank Rijkaard..and in 3,4 years we’ll be the new Barca!!
    Reina
    Johnson Carragher Agger Santon
    J.Cole Gerrard Meireles Maxi
    Adebayor Torres
    our players aint bad,they are UNDER-perfoming this season..it makes a lot of sense as Roy Flopgson is the manager…

  23. In fairness we do have a lot of poor quality players in the team right now. The likes of Ngog, Konchesky and Kyrgiakos aren’t of the caliber of player expected at Liverpool F.C.

    When you’ve got poor players like that, not many managers (if any!) could do something decent with the team!

  24. @steve – Why would you want Adebayor in your lineup? We have a destabilized club and you want a moody, argumentative and divisive player added to the mix? You’d be lucky to get Santon anywhere near the club right now, and I’m not sure we’d be able to afford him at any rate.

    @Leanne – Boy do I get tired of the N’Gog bashing. He’s 21 years old, has good talent that he has already improved upon since joining, and to further top it off we’d be much worse off this season without his goals. The likes of Poulsen, Konchesky and Kyrgiakos we could happily offload and find improvements but to cast out a promising youngster because, as far as I can tell, he’s not the next Ronaldo is insane.

  25. there is little wrong with liverpool fc – yes big name players are not trying as hard as they should which is disgraceful but the buck stops with the manager, he should have dropped them. the reason we are in the state we are in is that roy hodgson has killed the crowd, more through his lack of tact and understanding of what liverpool fc is. he has destryed the 12th man and this is unforgivable – HE MUST GO IF NOT WITH DIGNITY THEY HE CAN GO WITHOUT IT.

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