Boy what a Royal load of crap it’s been !
I’d like to start off with a quote I made up that i thought fits how we all feel .
The Years of the Rafalution , Liverpool fans used to look to the future in hope of what could be.
The Years of the Royalution, Liverpool fans look back at the past at what could have been.
One of my all time favorite Liverpool songs is the “ Did the ball go in song “ after Luis Garcia’s goal against Chelsea Fc. This is how it goes :
To the tune of ‘ Hokey pokey’
“Did the ball go in? Did the ball stay out? In out , in out. The Kop had no doubt, we all went to Istanbul and Chelsea went out, that’s what it’s all about !”
Over the last few months I’ve been singing my own rendition of the song I made up, Cos’ it’s the only way I can go to sleep at night.
“So the Roy Came in and the Rafa went out, Draw – Loss – Draw – Loss
The Kop were in doubt, Liverpool are twelfth and Roy’s still in. What the F***S that about !?”
True, I was a faithful Rafa believer. But I’m a Liverpool fan first and I moved on. Even though Roy’s stats over his carrier weren’t impressive, two factors gave me hope.
1. Roy seemed to say the right things during his first interview
“It’s important to get started straightaway, working with the players, trying to create an environment which will give us a chance to become better and hopefully improve upon the last season. “
Improvement was the key word. No matter how much faith I had in Rafa, if this guy says he will “ Improve” us and also state how low the Morale the team is and promise to change it, then polish my behind, I’m going to be glued to my TV to watch the all an improved Liverpool in action .
Below is a table I created so as to try solve the mystery of where we’ve improved. It compares the first 20 games of Rafa’s last season(ended up being his worst season) and Roy’s First season in LFC. (note- only premier league games )
I still don’t see it! Let’s try it with Percentages, I’m sure that’ll show us the improvements.
So the Foreign Spanish manager who apparently lost the dressing room due to the start LFC had and at the start of his Liverpool career was tagged as not knowing the premier league had a better first half of the season than Roy and his 35 ( and a half now) year career?
You know, maybe I wasn’t educated enough. Maybe I don’t know what the real meaning of improvement is, that has to be that!
im·prove·ment
a. The act or process of improving.
b. The state of being improved.
Roy after the Wolves game on the fans not supporting him.
“I have to hope the fans will become supporters because we need support. We are not deliberately losing games,” he said.
Just to clarify that point, Liverpool fans will never stop supporting their team, it’s you they’ve lost faith in . I’ve said it on twitter a while ago and I’ll say it again, Liverpool football club have the best fans the world of sport has ever seen, you don’t demand their respect, you earn it.
What puzzles me about the media is, if what they said was true. If the Liverpool players really lost their belief in Rafa this time last year, then for heaven’s sake why would they not with the new manager that performed worse?
So the media and Roy wants us to believe that the First team players are “totally behind Roy” for performing worse than the last manager ( and any other Liverpool team for over a decade ) and often tactically positioning them in playing styles they don’t play and then have him seemingly say “This isn’t my team yet”
They also have us believe that the “ Second team” that he publically didn’t rate “ good enough” and openly attacked after the loss to Northampton Town also have his backing.
For the record Roy, Team Chemistry is one of the most important parts of a team being successful. No matter how low ranked the team , they’re coming with their starters and they’re coming with Chemistry, either risk putting your “ second” team and face the consequences or play with the big guns. For a manager of 35( and a half) year experience you’d think he’d know that.( If you’ve wondered why I keep adding “and a half “The man seemed proud of this 35 year career so I’m giving him his extra half to add on with his great record at every chance I get !)
2. The second Factor that Gave me hope was, this team has potential .
Rafa left a team that reached second only two years earlier. The same team that would march all over Europe coming home with success. True we lost Alonso & Mascherano, but we had an Improving Lucas , a fit Aquilani and some extra money after the sale of Mascherano to just fill in the blanks.
Maybe we can’t be title contenders this year I thought, but with the prospect of getting a new owner we could do good enough to keep us at a decent consistent performance that would allow one or two winter signings help push us over that finishing line.
Last year Rafa was criticized for not reaching the potential Liverpool should have achieved with the team they had. This year Rafa is being criticized for not leaving a good enough team for Roy to reach the same potential he was criticized for not reaching last year. ( ???)
To give Roy credit, he stopped criticizing Rafa ( my guess is he’s lactose intolerant and didn’t like Rafa’s milk offer very much) So then Roy started pointing his finger at his team….. Oh I’m sorry “ The Team” since it’s not really his. Sometimes I wonder if Purslow said “ listen Roy, we secretly have Messi and ronaldo as well as other superstars ready to jump on your bandwagon once you sign with us “
As the season went on, us Liverpool fans let that slide, maybe he has big plans and additions we thought. Maybe he just has to add a few extra touches to make it his team I argued with myself.
Come January and I’m starting to have a totally different scary idea. By , “ make it my team” did he mean drag us to Mid table, playing crap deep football away from home against every team possible and having me wondering if I’m watching Liverpool play Football or Dodge ball with how he sets us up at home shifting left to right following the other teams passing of the ball?
As the manager of Liverpool Football club it’s your responsibility to take blame for performances. Roy Hodgson has ran out of people to point the finger at, he’s criticized Rafa, the Ex Owners , the players and even the famous Kop.
The only thing Roy Hodgson had left to say was:
“It’ll be the next performance which could change things.”
I was hoping that was the last thing he’d ever say as a Liverpool Manager, alas I was wrong. That disappoints me, because I feel guilty and I’ll tell you why.
Come Man Utd on Saturday and I’ll be tucked in my couch wrapped up in my Liverpool scarf and jersey hoping for a miracle . As we all know, miracles don’t always come true, but I know if we lose or do real bad, after the game I can just pick up my remote control and turn off the TV. What about the traveling kop ? what about the fans that have to travel to Old Trafford? The fans that have been traveling all over Europe and England the last few months to watch us play? The fans that used to march into the biggest stadiums in the world, Camp Nou , The bernabeu and San siro just to name a few.
I’ve had the Honour being at Anfield when we lost 3-1 last season to Aston villa and it was tough but walking back to my hotel with the thousands of red shirts gave me pride and restored my faith. I can’t begin to imagine how painful the atmosphere must be now when we lose let alone think of all those fans after a bad loss at Old Trafford. They don’t deserve it, Liverpool don’t deserve it!
When Rafael Benitez was under pressure two years ago and ( once again) blamed for losing the dressing room, back at the time he hadn’t signed a new contract due to his demands with control and length of the contract, the players stood up for him we beat Real Madrid 4-0 , Man utd away 4-1 and Aston Villa 5-0 . Six months in Roy Hodgson’s tenure as Liverpool Manager, I’m still waiting to see that type of commitment from the players to the manager. I’m not saying they need to I’m just saying that if what the media is saying is right, then they should have been streaking months ago .I think having an owner that lives thousands of miles away and doesn’t sit in at Anfield every week and watch us play, can be a negative. It’s harder to feel what the fans are really feeling.
To the thousands of fans that passionately follow the team week in and week out, from us, the millions of fans that passionately follow Liverpool on our TVs’ from all corners of the world, You’ll Never Walk Alone !
9ynwa6 – Nas Y.
Touché.
Can’t agree more…,
Honestly – abolutely ON THE MONEY !!
Nothing left to say, you’ve said it all.
Even Roy knows it’s all over. He’s just refusing to step down so that he can get that fat severance cheque he was promised (chivalrous gentleman that he is).
C’mon Henry, just give him the 3 million or whatever it was and get him out of here. Keeping him on board any longer is gonna cost the club way more than that…
Why wont they consider Rafa on THEIR terms ???,Why can`t he return to do his unfinished business??? just see if he can sort
the players out before the end of a most awful season???,we dont need a young manager to grow,we need the RIGHT manager regardless
of age AND the players ON side.
Pull the TRIGGER or Back the twat.. One way or the other NESV
Love this so much I’m near tears… I’m in Barbados and the stick you get walking the streets in a red shirt is bareable, I can imagine what it must be like for the traveling fans. YNWA, we can hope he’s gone by Monday right?
@sam, prast ,JK ,Sally. Thank you – YNWA
@Red2death- Yeah i’m sure he knows it but he’s going to go down swinging, i just wonder who he’ll blame on his first statement after the sack.
@RF – True, for the sake of the players if not the fans.Pointless spending millions this transfer window if they sack him and have the next manager not want/need the new signings.
@Bajan – True , many of us get stick for supporting liverpool around the world, you got to feel for the traveling fans. Specially at OT . But just as we support LFC out of love, so do they.
Let’s hope for Change, this time the good kind!
Great article. I’m guessing you’re not an english journalist.
@ Mark – Thanks mate & oh no, far from it! I haven’t put the word ” blame” and “Rafa” together enough to pass as one. ( that’s a joke in case any english journalists are reading this !)
Good article,
When I heard Hodgson was in the running for manager i thought it was a piss take. I mean I still think that purslow c*nt is secretly a man utd fan. I just couldn’t believe we got rid of Benitez (of his calibre) for RH.
I still think there’s alot more to it and by all accounts it was the Gerrard and carragher who wanted Benitez out and RH in and the Spanish lads wanted Rafa to stay, as a team, to me there seems a divide in the team and quite a few of them players on the park are just playing for themselves, I can imagine there’s quite a few clicks in the squad and I think that’s part of the problem for why were playing so bad. Then there’s the fact the players have found out quite quickly how poor their new manager is and realise he’s not as experienced as he seems to claim and keep preaching.
I remember seeing an article a few years ago when tinkerman Ranieri took over an Valencia and was giving first time
Orders for his new team in training and asked his defenders to defend and they said which defensive formation do u want? Was their reply, Ranieri said ‘what do u mean? They said well we have about 12 different defensive formations Benitez had us do. Just made me think how good a manager he was and then I watch Liverpool now and there shape and everything is just all over the place, no wonder the players don’t know what there doing!
Anyways end of my rant, at the end of the day, we got rid of a world class manager in Benitez, we signed him on the basis he won 2 la liga titles in 3 seasons against the moneybags real and barca, won the uefa cup, then came to u’s and won the champions league, fa cup, super cup, finish minimum q/f champions league 4 years out of 6, and a champions league final
And carling cup finalist also, one bad season and 7th place finish with minimum spends and replaced Roy Hodgson, 35 years manager, couple of Danish and swedish titles, 2 uefa cup finalists…. That it? Yes! Well done Purslow lad, u done right by lfc and the fans!
Don’t understand the fools that want rafa back he led us to seventh last season crashes inter Milan a 5 star team and we want him back get with it lfc deserves much better than 7th also rafa bought crap signings lfc need a 5 star manager such as klinsmenn rijkaard or deschamps if we want to return to the top of the table lfc fan forever
@ Fitzy – Very true, as much as the media and ex board try to have us believe that the players lost faith in Rafa, i don’t buy it. The backbone of the team surely didn’t,the only players to ever criticize Rafa were the fringe players that left, the pennants and benayouns. Regarding Gerrard and Carra, well who knows, maybe, maybe not. Hopefully time will tell. If it is however true then i think they have to be branded as being Selfish. To ask for the managers head because they want to ” rush” and improve the team in a desprete attempt to win the league before the end of their careers.
That’s IF it’s true, not saying they were the cause.I did find it weird when Carra said this season “We have changed the manager, we have changed the board and if things don’t change now then the players will go too.Everything else has changed, it is just the players who have stayed the same.” No way did purslow sack Rafa without Carra & Gerrard knowing. I guess what we’ll never know is if it was a ” he’s going” or ” should he go? ” situation.
Nevertheless , that’s the past. Roy’s the present, let’s hope for a bright future. YNWA
@ Rohit – First off i don’t think it’s right to brand anyone’s opinions as being a ” fool” It’s disrespectful to them and inaccurate
Secondly, he did alot more to LFC than just being labeled as the ‘ the guy who led us to 7th’
Is he good enough to manage liverpool? yes. Validating that fact doesn’t mean the fans want him back, they merely want success for liverpool. He brought liverpool a decent amount of success with the circumstances of the owners. So the fans are calling for that atmosphere to come back. Even if some may want ” Rafa” back, with his CV and experience in the premier league, that comment cannot be just a ” foolish” wish
He never ” crashed” Inter milan, true he won two cups due to the teams titles last year but he still WON two titles. The team were hit with injuries and judging by how he left them he wanted signings that he was promised and never given, injuries + no new signings = trouble. Inter took advantage of the Rafa and his Capabilities and they suffered, true Rafa not having any experience in the Italian league may have affected them a bit but Inter knew that before they signed him up, right?
Back to liverpool, i find it really weird you attack fans that want a manager of Rafa’s Caliber back and at the same time call Klinsmenn a 5 star manager. And i Quote from Jaime Carragher’s book page 436″i didn’t agree with Klinsmann as a replacement. He was too inexperienced at club level and his CV is no match for Rafa’s” What has Kinsmann a sacked bayern coach won or achieved as a football manager? That’s the difference between challenging an opinion and calling it foolish mate.
Like i said in the last comment, Rafa was the past, Roy is the present. Let us as liverpool fans just hope for a bright future. YNWA
Regards Rafa at Inter, it’s pretty obvious he was a tad unlucky at the time he took over. His team was ageing… past its peak. His budget in the summer was non-existent. As far as I’m aware he was only backed to buy a 35 year old keeper behind an ageing Julio Cesar.
Yet after signing a just a reserve keeper, Inter are now 7th. Hodgson signed 5 players, making Liverpool more his team than Rafa made Inter his.
I have read that keegan has cone out and stated that the decline had been happening over a number of years. That being the case
thank you to this article for pointing out thatosy of this said finished 2nd on08-09 my god rafa did well. Now barnes says can’t replace Hodgson as no one better. Should that not have appllied before Saco g rafa?
well said and so true.
Jesus christ boys and girls!such venom ive never heard,a man venturing into territory like ours to succeed in the interests of our beloved lfc does not deserve such malice.tis not the liverpool way.can anybody point out where such ridicule helps us?may i retort to some young scouse whippersnappers that the success that man utd got in the last 20 was(and probably not for much longer)all due to alec ferguson.therefore a very talented one man show but a one man show nonetheless.our success however,was different but its essence should prevail because essentially sir matt busbys babes faded whilst from king bill shankley a 20 year reign was born so the city,the team, the managers and ultimately the club succeeded-so lets restart but in the mindset of good old ‘im gonna try my best today’-that would be a welcome start from alot our current team.i may be mistaken in the my old dreamer way of taking the ‘mercenary’out of football so that the ‘I LOVE PLAYING FOR LIVERPOOL FC’is worn and sworn ,not played and paid.this is britain,opinions are displayed and analized wether true or not but the men with balls are all too often reapin thin ice and im sure if the hodgsons, redknapps, fergusons etc of this world were(as many think they should be)only interested in the easy,loadsamoney retirement style of living ,we wouldnt be hearing their names today.their money is pretty safe methinks!
ive read alot of commments bout liverpool fc lately,and i suppose its a bit easier for the ‘elderscouser’ to say this than younger fans but i love liverpool fc more than ive ever loved them…ah the look on my kids faces…walk alone.never!
Royalution sucks! I miss the Rafalution…
here we go again, for all of you that bashing rafa, you dont remember when the last time after 1990! liverppol became one of the most fearful opponent in europe and england? are you lost of memories? about fans supports, let me tell you that even in my country, LFC fans are considered the most passion and faithful, this came from MU and Arsenal fans! go figure!
@ Bonscouse – I respect the opinions and viewpoints you’ve stated mate, it’s true I too at times found myself writing Roy off too soon at the start of the year and it’s simple why, Liverpool stopped improving. Come January, every stat on the paper say the current manager is doing worse, worse than the “Redknapps , Fergusons” you’ve mentioned, breaking the wrong type of records this club fought to keep with their class, passion and dignity over all its historic years.
The difference with their situations and Roy’s is. They were beginning to build up a team to be successful, Roy was merely meant to add on to the team Rafa was building for 5 years. Improve the team with his vision and just push Liverpool over the finish line, the line they so closely failed to make 2 years ago, according to the ex board, due to Rafa. Unless you think we should invest 5 years in Roy and then judge him?
Surely when 98% of fans in almost all the polls online want the manager gone as well as the famous Kop that Mockingly sing ” Hodgson for England” aren’t all wrong with their opinions? are they all being a malice to the club? or are they in their experience pointing out what’s not working well for the club?
As true Liverpool fans, I’m proud to say they’ve not once turned on the team, Liverpool football Club. The fans are smart, whether it be the thousands that watch the mighty reds in the stands every week or the millions around the world. Like i mentioned in the article, we have potential and watch the Liverpool games, losing 1-0 to wolves we could still hear the fans sing “ All round the fields of Anfield road” as well as many other songs, it’s Roy they’re after.
It’s not all about ” just trying your best” You have to do your best and execute it. You have to aim for success and show signs of it. What if i were to be the next Liverpool manager? I’d sure be doing my very best for the club, I’ll put forth many ideas as to how we can play. But alas Liverpool would do terrible, would you still praise me for ” trying my best” ?
Liverpool can do better, we’re 12th in the league mid season, mate. 12th ! is that the Liverpool you want your kids to grow up with? Cos judging by your passion, your kids will always ensure Liverpool never walk alone. But why don’t they have the right to ensure that with Liverpool being successful too? Why do they have to grow up to another 20 years of no premier league titles and possible regular 7th place end of season position every year? That’s what the fans are fighting for.
To love something is to be able to stand up to it and be honest, what is love without honestly? That’s what the fans are doing, brand them as ” younger fans” if you like. But old or young, they’re Liverpool fans and that’s all that really matters. Age isn’t the factor.
Since you mentioned Bill Shankly , I’ll end this with one of his quotes
“It was my idea to build Liverpool into a bastion of invincibility. Napoleon had that idea and he conquered the bloody world.”
How close have we been this season to that dream ?
YNWA
@ rohit.
Klinsman? Rijkaard? 5 star managers? Haha.
It’s harder not to win anything with Barcelona, rikjaard then goes to galatasaray and gets found out and sacked! He’s been inundated with job offers??? Oh yer he’s still unemployed at the minute.
When Benitez was getting sacked at inter sky sports were talking to Guillem
Balagne who talked about alot of broken promises at Liverpool and thats why he feels he has unfinished business there, and I believe that’s the case, u look at the money Benitez got over last couple of seasons, he didn’t even get to spend the money he got from selling players, how are we suppose to buy quality players under the £10m bracket. Few and far between, there’s only arsenal who can seem to do that but when u look at the players Benitez bought, yes he did make some bad buys, but did he keep them? No he shipped them off as soon as he realised they were no good, recouped money and moved on. Maybe if he was allowed to buy maybe 2 or 3 players over the £10m barrier he might of had better success. (dont include Johnson or aquai
@ rohit.
Klinsman? Rijkaard? 5 star managers? Haha.
It’s harder not to win anything with Barcelona, rikjaard then goes to galatasaray and gets found out and sacked! He’s been inundated with job offers??? Oh yer he’s still unemployed at the minute.
When Benitez was getting sacked at inter sky sports were talking to Guillem
Balagne who talked about alot of broken promises at Liverpool and thats why he feels he has unfinished business there, and I believe that’s the case, u look at the money Benitez got over last couple of seasons, he didn’t even get to spend the money he got from selling players, how are we suppose to buy quality players under the £10m bracket. Few and far between, there’s only arsenal who can seem to do that but when u look at the players Benitez bought, yes he did make some bad buys, but did he keep them? No he shipped them off as soon as he realised they were no good, recouped money and moved on. Maybe if they gave him proper money he could of bought some better players, but that was never the case, the money just got less and less each transfer window
How true can’t say that better Nas Rafa was a victim of racism ignorance and stupidity by the British media isnt it simple logic that when your enemy tells u that u are goin the right direction u should know everything is so damned wrong
@Nas Y-As i write this i feel an overall sense of relief at hodgsons departure yesterday,i have to admit i feel it myself.In hindsight he should never have been appointed but thats hindsight for ya!
@Nas Y-As I write this i detect an overall sense of relief at Hodgsons departure yesterday,i have to admit i feel it myself.In hindsight he should never have been appointed but thats hindisght for ya!
We had a long summer after the world cup with alot of potential movement in the realm of buyers and managers,some patience may have stopped any rash decisions but thats easy for me to say-now.
My point however, and i probably should have made myself clearer,was aimed more at effort(or lack thereof) of the team more so than manager.
Granted he is to blame to a degree if he dosent inspire players to up their game but if a manager has to ‘make’ a player lift his head,use basic football skills or remind him whos boss then that player needs a shankly clip round the lug!
All too often this season we’ve seen Torres either sulking or complaining,Ngog knocked of his stride like a feather,Johnson ‘posing’ in the corner,Babel run aimlessly at defenders,Skyrtel standing with his gob open while opponents skip past him and even Kuyt passing the ball like a blind man!
The fact that we’re playing so incoherently though like 11 guys who’ve never even met let alone played together has got fall back to the manager.
So basically its a mix of both players not playing and a manager not managing!
I cant see Kenny putting up with that,i bet his tongue has been half bitten off this season!
One thing is for sure though,anyone who plays under Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool FC will know that they’re playing for LFC,that its LFC who pays their wages but most of all its an LFC shirt they’re wearing!
Less we forget who he played under!
Now lets go to old trafford today and do one proper on them and keep them firmly in our shadow!
So true, bonescouse. I like how you think. If a majority of the players still in the team were the ones playing so well during the 08-09 season, then why not this year?
These group of players we have, may not all be super stars, but they used to play with passion and effort, we didn’t do that this season and that just made us an average team.
Let’s hope for a brighter red future, mate !
YNWA