Crack the whip!

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All Liverpool fans will look back at the 2011/12 season with mixed feelings. While Kenny seems content with what was achieved when he stated that “it was not a bad season”, adding more recently that “the transfer market always brings up surprises but what the surprises are going to be I can’t help you because I’m not clairvoyant. But what I can say is that we are not actively looking to move anyone out”, meaning that he is ultimately happy with the squad he helped forge last summer.

Recent events seem to portray a slightly different view coming from the ownership! Fenway Sports Group have shown their dismay by cracking the whip three times in the space of a few weeks, the highest profile casualty being Damien Comolli followed by Peter Brukner (Head of Sports Science), and more recently Ian Cotton, who was Director of Communications and had been with the Club for over 15 years! There persons which held very important posts. Whether the whip cracking will continue remains to be seen but there is no doubt that when heads start to roll it means that things are not right, if anything in the minds of those holding the whip!

Let’s face it: we won a domestic cup winning on penalties against a Championship side, which produced another piece of silverware for the cabinet and got us back into European football ‘through the back door’. Mind you, we ALL aspired for Champions League football. We all hoped last summer’s overhaul would give us the right impetus to get back amongst the Premier League’s elite, but it was not to be.

Question is: if we were so average at best this season, what’s going to happen next season when we will have to add Europa League football in the equation?

Our biggest flaw, in a nutshell, was our alarming inconsistency, made more evident by our inherent inability to convert the massive amount of chances. We imprecated luck because we hit the woodwork so many times, but then we were also ridiculously clumsy with all the penalties that came our way (Carling Cup final included) and which we so frustratingly did not convert.

The fact that we were ‘just not throwing it in the net’ was immediately evident and it was mind boggling to see that the Club did nothing to rectify the issue in the January window! Things went from bad to worse and post January we endured our worst league run in decades!

Kenny seems to be ‘safe’ from the whip, but the availability of the likes of Benitez, Capello and more recently Guardiola might be haunting his thoughts in the back of his mind. If Kenny is convinced that he has what it takes to move the Club forward the majority of fans would want him to stay, but if that is not the case then most of us would find it more elegant for him to make the first move because as much as this Club has unparalleled history and consideration, the owners see all this as an investment and as much as they might accept a slow progression, I am sure they will not accept any backward movement.

The question now is: have we remained stable, moved forward, or gone backward? We ALL know that the net spend on players has not been what the media proclaims it to be. In that respect, Fenway have been shrewd and balanced the expenditure with cunning. We have been very disappointing in the Premier League, but we have added silverware and we are back in Europe, so as much as we expected better, we have in fact, progressed, crawling at times, but progress we did!

Liverpool Football Club remains a dream club to play for, and will always attract top players, even though we need to come to terms with the fact that top players will want CL football. The Reds are already linked with a plethora of budding and established starts, and there are rumours that some players will effectively leave. Kenny said only Fabio Aurelio is on the way out but we all saw Maxi waving at Anfield. I suspect a few others will follow suit. My take on this is that a few players will opt to leave, and some will definitely be shipped out on loan, which would only mean that we will see new faces. With Europa League football on the cards, we need to add depth, quality and options, across the board!

Crack the whip Mr Henry!

p.s. Written before final defeat to Swansea this afternoon…….!

42 Comments

  1. Why would Kenny by affraid of a 60-something year old who has no interest in English football and a former manager who’s cult following amongst some Borders on disturbing, not mentioning the fact that he tried and failed to deliver consistently in 6 years having been given more leeway than any other Liverpool manager.

    1. Furthermore, if Guardiola has really turned down Chelsea because he needs a break, why would he come to Liverpool?

      I really see the main problem this season being our inability to convert chances into goals. Look at Arsenal, do they have a good team, it’s ok. Do they have a solid defence? Definitely not and it’s definitely weaker than ours. Then how comes they will be playing Champions League football next season (only just)…..Robin van Persie!

      You are right, a goal-scorer needed to be bought in January. My understanding is that certain targets came close to being acquired (e.g. Defoe), then there was that Grobbelaar thing that made us all think that David Teixeira was going to join our ranks. So what happened? Were the targets not interested? Was there no money there?

      I wonder if the real reason why Comolli lost his job was, not so much for spending millions on players whose performances failed to justify the costs, but failure rather to identify the Cisses of this world.

      1. I guess you didnt know when Rafa signed we had less money to spend on players? the reason he trawled the lower leagues of spain using his contacts is because they wouldnt sanction the 30+ mill transfers he idealy wanted, while ferguson was snapping up ferdinand rooney Ronaldo nani and co, the implications of signing cheap spanish players being alot werent good enough so got moved on, tho alonso and garcia were excellent for our club helping win a champions league trophy under Rafas reign.
        Rafa signed Torres and we finished 2nd, he stated he wanted david villa, but the owners wouldnt give him the money, so the answer was to strengthen midfield, with being in the champions league he saw the extra games as a sign we needed to overhaul the midfield, or at least add to it, losing alonso was a big mistake, like Losing Lucas in the current squad.
        Rafa won more in his time at Liverpool than Ferguson did in the same time with United, and had our new owners taken over a year before, no doubt would have kept his job, you have this idea its a cult to admire Benitez, Dalglish was given the job due to his cult status and past glories with the club as a player and manager, even though he’d been out of the game for years, where is the difference?
        People want rafa back because he made us harder to beat, and won the title in spain, and what endears people to Rafa is that he still hopes to get the job, keeping a house in Liverpool.
        That kind of attitude for Liverpool fc is what Got Kenny the job.
        So why not rafa? He’s younger, tactically superior, would actually have money to spend with the new owners, and i dont think he’d be so pragmatic 2nd time around.
        Thats Kennys downfall, he isnt hungry enough.

        1. Totally agree, again, we can’t wait anymore, we are Liverpool, not Newcastle, if we’ll wait another year and we’ll fail, we’ll be done for the next five years since we’ll lose our last few great player, with a manager like Benitez who is internationally considered a top manager (someone may disagree with this and that’s why they simply understand zero about football, but that’s a fact.) we can attire the attention of great players even without champions league, and that’s why great players knows that where there’s a great manager there’s a great team, i seriously can’t understand who criticise Benitez…meh, i think that it’s clear why the national team there sucks so bed from ages…

        2. While I am in favour of giving Kenny more time (perhaps more to do with sentimentality than actual conviction) it is good to see that there are still supporters like you that can appreciate and understand what an incredible job Benitez did for us.

          It saddens me how far we have fallen since Rafa was forced into leaving the Club. The rot started as soon as the Club’s interest payments were eating away at the Champions League money which was supposed to be reinvested into the team.

          If it had been Fenway Sports and not G&H in charge after 2008-2009 we will be challenging for the title let alone getting the CL spots. While City and Spurs have strengthened, United, Chelsea and Arsenal are all arguably (or to put it frankly, considerably) weaker than a few seasons ago.

        3. What are you talking about? There are NO top clubs forming a queue to hire Benitez, he Doesn’t even get linked with recently vacant jobs like Fulham or Sunderland never mind Chelsea etc. You are another brainwashed Rafa convert, he will struggle to find a job in football, the behind the scenes rumours of his shenanigans are now commonly known throughout club football, he fell out with every club he managed, Valencia, LFC and Inter Milan. No one will touch Rafa with a barge pole! And he’s only got himself to blame for his fading career.

          1. General ZIPPIT…………if Rafa wanted a job, he would walk into ANY team, can you say the same about your beloved (Clueless) KENNY?, thought not!!!

          2. WHAAAAAAATTTTTTT???
            YOU SAY: he doesn’t even get linked with recently vacant jobs? you can be sure about the opposite, he simply refused those…and than YOU SAY: he fell out with every club he managed and “fading career”? HAHAHA well, maybe you really don’t know that he’s been a winner in every club he managed with the exception of Tenerife so what the hell are you talking about dude, seriously, do you know that he won with Valencia 2 times La Liga and in few months with Inter (without a single player he asked to buy and with a team at the end of the cycle as you can see with the results last and these year, no champions league) the club world cup, so again, what are you talking about? please…

          3. Rory, some guys talk more out of emotion than fact, more out of remaining in their comfort zone than being audacious to want more for the Club. I respect everyone’s views even though some rationale is frankly inconcievable.
            Given the choice, and in the event that Dalglish is not confirmed (highly unlikely), I’d go for a ‘younger’ coach that has shown tactical prowess with limited resources.

          4. Some guys talk out of emotion yes but reading things like “he fell out with every club he managed” and “fading career” it’s simply unacceptable about Benitez like it would be for Mourinho, Ancelotti, Hiddink…than i understand your point about young managers but onestly it’s quite obvious that Benitez isn’t old and going for a young manager like Martinez, Klopp is an high risk since they’ve not show to have something special, Klopp have won Bundesliga yes but that’s not a big thing if you ask me and big part of that is because of last bad seasons of Bayern due to injuries which is the only top club there, i remember more then a couple of bad Klopp’s seasons in last years when there where more good teams like Werder Brema and Stoccarda, however the German league is so balanced that almost everybody can win if Bayern doesn’t respect his value, now we have the chance to build something seriously starting with a top manager like Benitez or Guardiola, presumed phenoms are risky

          5. And surely big players will not come with Klopp or Martinez (although i like him) as with Dalglish, if we’ll be managed by Benitez or Guardiola you’ll see…

    2. @Josh: It would do you a whole of good to learn the difference between “who’s” and “whose”.

    3. Your a deluded knobhead !!! Thinking this FOOLGLISH is gonna take us back to the promised land ??? With pricks like Henderson downing spearing…knobhead

  2. This obsession with Benitez has to stop, it’s killing the club, especially dividing the support base. The Benitez cult fail to see the reality of his reign. His lack of man management saw him buying dozens of rubbish players on very high wages, & an inability to manage his good players, boring boring football & falling out with just about everyone. After he hounded Paco out of the club that was the end of his success.

    1. I always thought Benitez left a couple of years too late. I did not like his ‘cold’ attitude on the touchline and his supermarket bringing and dispensing of players.

    2. What is an undeniable fact is that we were far better off then (league position wise) and ability wise than we are now. From being a feared team in Europe and domestically to having all the relegation fodder and mid-table minnows licking their lips before coming to “Fortress Anfield”, which has more leaks than a 100 year old, rusty sceptic tank is the reality of today.

      If you’re happy that we are breaking records for all the wrong reasons compared to the clean sheets Reina used to win Golden Gloves for then so be it.

      Players actually improved under Rafa so cold or not he got the best out of what we had.

      To say “Be careful what you wish for” is the greatest understatement.

  3. Of course Kenny should given time. While our league positon may not reflect it, our performances on field had, until late, improved greatly.

    People bleat on about Roy Hodgson’s record but he was negative manager who brought crap, negative football and merely aimed to defend the point we started with rather than win two more. He wasn’t good enough to be linked let alone get the job so comparison is futile.

    As for Rafa, those obsessed with this muppet are indeed disturbed. He built a good squad at one point but lost the plot, overcomplicated things and strangled the life out of the team.

    Give Kenny more time, let him bring in real quality and judge him at the end of next season. UnfortunatelY, we’re always going to have to read comments from so-called ref fans who know nothing about the club, what it stands for and what Kenny has done for it. Show some respect or fcuk off!

    1. Well Lee, let me start by writing that if that fcuk off was directed at me, than I gladly reciprocate!
      I am not obsessed with Benitez. I was one that wrote on this website ages ago and criticized the Spaniard. He is unemployed, and he has often expressed his desire to return, in my book, knowing the Club the way he does, makes him a possible candidate.
      I have not called for Kenny’s head, far from it, but I will tell you this. This ‘works in progress’ and ‘give him time’ bullshit needs to stop. He had time and money to bring in quality but as we can all see it has not really worked out. The man is a legend and a mentor but he is not a tactician which is needed in today’s game.
      What Kenny did as a player and as a manager of the football club is nothing short of outstanding, but as I wrote in my article, if the ownership have the patience you are asking them to endure, that is another question and certainly I will not be influencing any decisions anytime soon.
      One final thing, when you read an article, or better still my articles, take your head out of your ass and read it well!

    2. Rafa Over complicated, you mean like Playing spearing and henderson in the cup final? leaving out our main attacking midfielder MAXI who scores more than Henderson adams spearing downing combined? leaves out Kuyt who works harder than anyone on the pitch?
      Under kenny no one has a clue who the team will be until kick off.
      Under Rafa if you played well you won a place and kept it, he only rotated when we challenged for the title while winning the champions league and getting to the final after that, after the previous owners made it clear they wouldnt give him 30+ mill for players he outlined, LIKE david villa, he had to shop about and chop n change, while the owners were meeting Klinsman behind his back, and still he stuck to the job, finding out from the media his job was at threat.
      People calling Rafa a muppet devalue our 5th champions league trophy, because without his signings we wouldnt have it.
      The only reason I say Kenny isnt the man is because the Money he spent hasnt made us better, its made us worse, 2nd half of last season we were playing better football scoring more goals.
      So Kenny sells Miereles and Babel and Torres, signs henderson unproven, adams who spent 1 season in the prem, Downing who went from Boro to Villa, these arent the players who are going to win us the title, and for the fees they cost its insane that kenny would consider them worth it.
      Id rather have torres miereles and babel back.Our midfield was only ever an issue because we didnt have a left sided attacker, then we had so many we were letting them go like cole and miereles aquilani etc etc.
      Now we have a midfield who cant play together, and its feeding through to the strikers.
      Kennys a negative influence on our style of play.
      Too much sideways passing.
      Mierles and aquilani at least played that killer 30 yard pass for strikers to run onto.
      Now we’re obsessed with crosses into carroll, and we’ve now become predictable.

      1. To be fair, Benitez was a tinkerer as well, but in this day and age, with the demands of modern day football, you have to rotate your squad.

        Your assessment that our midfield isn’t strong enough is absolutely spot on. Whoever is managing the team next season has to address that as a priority.

        We have to move on from the fact that some players have left the club. Torres wanted to go, we’re probably lucky he stayed as long as he did, although he did sulk for the whole of the last season he played for us. Meireles wanted to go and although you did not mention Aquilani, he wanted to go also. What was Kenny (and Hodgson)to do? As for Babel, this guy has so much ability, but if 3 managers in succession couldn’t get the best out of him in 4 seasons then maybe it just wasn’t going to happen. I do think he would have been better on the right wing then Henderson, however.

        I think also that Kenny must have been expecting a midfield involving Gerrard, Lucas and Adam but all 3 have been injured at some point this season. Unfortunately, Spearing, Henderson and Shelvey have thus been over-utilised

    3. You are a knobhead aren’t you lee ??? FOOLGLISH has turned us into the laughing stock of the premier league,you prick !!! Henderson spearing why do these championship players get to wear are shirt ? Because there SHITE…

  4. Downing, Henderson, Enrique … all flops, all bought by Daglish. Adam, possibly in the same category; Carroll, a panic buy who has only brought a glimmer of hope in the last four or five games, after looking totally bereft of confidence in virtually all of his first season.

    Too many of the signings in the Daglish era have let the club down in his first full season.

    I agree with Lee that all talk of a return to the Benitez days is absurd, and that he was a far too negative manager who was extremely lucky in cup finals. It could have been argued that Istanbul 05 and Cardiff 06 were achieved by the players almost despite their manager.

    Ultimately, this season has been one of abject failure.

    I’m old school so I’d never call for Kenny’s head, because he is a club legend. But the owners hardly care for sentiment and perhaps it is time for Kenny to move upstairs and let a younger manager come on board.

  5. Season from hell! Only good thing was United losing the title. Kenny needs to bring in quality players and fast. Under no circumstances can Liverpool expect anything good next year if that team stays like that without big changes. Downing, Henderson, Adam, Spearing, Shelvey are not good enough for the first team, I would put Carroll in that bracket too even though he’s looked a decent player lately he doesn’t score many goals or have many assists, I think Carroll coming off the bench to knock a few players around would be the best option.. I’m hoping and praying Liverpool sign Gastón Ramírez I really like the look of him..

    1. Hi Pat. I’m afraid that the fact we got so far off the Champions League qualification will not help the cause of brining in some of the best talent out there. I’ve seen Ramirez play for Bologna, he has been super this season and is being chased by the best Clubs in Europe. Bologna will obviously cash in on the best offer.
      This summer has all the ingredients of being very intriguing, but I have a feeling that Fenway’s restructuring is not quite over as yet!

  6. You all Kenny’s lovers here, STOP SMEELING THE BEANS, everyone in the whole wide world, knows by what they have seen, so far,that Kenny is passed it, as a player, and MANAGER!, ‘F’ CLUELESS!!!

  7. Doesnt matter who you are if you spend £100,000,000 and finish 8th behind your city rivals who have spent next to nothing, you simply deserve to be sacked!

  8. Yep, good balanced article …

    Its difficult when one of our own is in a position such as Kenny and things are not going so well. But we have to be honest before we can move forward. KK has been in charge for a season and a half, he had money and has started to reshape the squad, Roy on the other hand took over the club under very different and difficult circumstances with no real money to spend, so what do people expect?

    Will KK stay or be moved upstairs? Only the owners know the answer to this one, yes I hope he gets another season as I’m sure lessons have been learnt, although I don’t believe the owners or fans will be so forgiving if we have a repeat of this season.

    We are LFC and now is a time to get behind the club, manager and players, we have a european trophy to win next season and a top four place to achieve, so lets get to work on our positive attitudes…

    Paul.philosophy

    1. I think Kenny should get another season, this is the only true way to know if progress is being made. It’s simple, if league position is a true marker of progression, then if Liverpool equal or do worse than this season, then they are obviously going backwards. If such a situation was to transpire (and I trust it won’t), then Kenny may volunteer to depart without being asked because he may feel at that point that he’s taken the team as far as he can.

      1. Sadly kenny doesnt deserve another season in charge, all the other clubs above us will be strengthening their squads, so Unless Fenway are going to stump up a few hundred mill to tempt 4 50 mill players we wont be winning the title through an improved squad.
        What we need is a manager who has charisma and ruthlessness in the media and the ideology to take what we have and make it better.
        We have certain aspects like Suarez, carrolls height etc etc that can turn any game.
        yechnically we HAVE played some amazing football this season on a par with any globally, BUT we lack a manager who can instill consistency into our squads psychi, kennys fond of the , we’ll see approach.
        Mourinho would get to the bottom of WHY and make it known, he’s the boss and he WILL win the title.
        That gives players a mental boost and a inner belief that trusting in his way WILL bring success, so they try just a bit harder when games seem beyond them, they play without doubt or fear, and enjoy the feeling of defeating opponents and killing them off.
        Liverpool under kenny score, and its like they’re waiting to be told whether to carry on attacking or hold onto the lead.
        Teams smell weakness.
        And Liverpool are a wounded animal under Kenny.
        If you want to trully know how bad we are, Imagine our side without Luis.
        We’re no better than midtable at best without the suarez effect.
        Sad thing is.
        Technically our players have the skill to play into title contention.
        I trully believe Rafa would make the current squad harder to beat and work from there.
        You can call it negative, but that negative football scored us 3 goals against milan in Istanbul.
        And being cold isnt a factor in football management.
        Rafa isnt any colder than Mancini wenger or redknapp.

    2. Phil,philosophy ? Knobhead you talk through your ASS…FOOLGLISH plays his knobhead signings,and it’s costing LFC game after game after game ???? Henderson downing SPEARING ? Shocking signings Shocking players Shocking championship players

  9. I start saying that NO ONE IS IMPORTANT AS THE CLUB, so, this is our last chance, if we’ll miss next year we’ll probably lose our few last great player (including Suarez), it’s clear that the club doesn’t have a clear plan now in terms of Team, now i ask everybody to think without prejudice since this is the time to choose, and J.Henry must choose to build from a top manager who understands modern football and can grab the attention of great players, and unfortunately KK isn’t in this category so, i admit that my choice would be Benitez because i consider him one of the top four/five managers today but there’s also the possibility to sign Guardiola, so please, this is a very important moment for the club and there’s the chance to work with two of the top managers around, we must not lose this train because it’s possible that it wont come back

  10. Rafa is the best person to replace KD. Not that he still keep his affection with Liverpool, with him around we probably could still attract some top class players from Europe. KD is just an old legend who is still living in the fantasy of 80s.

  11. No manager can be a immediate success. Look at Man C. Evevn with all their money theu took so many years to acheieve success. Kenny came in, he already had a team that was not a top 4 team and he needs time to mould it into a team that he wants. Lets give him 1 more season to do his job better. Honestly I don’t think we will need to long to see the glory days returning.

    Kenny has said many times that he is not here for his personnel glory but he believes that he still has a lot to offer to the club and if he feels that he has cannot move the club forward he will step down. So give Kenny the support he desreves.

    If after next season there is no improvement, then Kenny might need to consider to step down and guardiloa might be the right person to step in after his 1year break.

    We need to start somewhere and winning 1 piece of cup and in 1 final is a good start. Man U/Arsenal/Spurs might be ahead of us in the league but don’t have anything to celebrate.

    Lets take small but firm steps forward and not giant strides to nowhere.

    YNWA is what we should be telling the team and Kenny.

    YNWA

    1. Question for deluded sentimental LFC fans……………

      WOULD THE LIKES OF….BARCELLONA, REAL MADRID,or ANY top team in the world, offer KENNY the managerial job???,…….eh, hmm, eh…….Oops

  12. Sack this C*NT FOOLGLISH !!! The man is a deluded PR*CK,spearing Henderson downing are all ladyboys who don’t want to mess there hair up,jay spearing is just SHITE ( headless chicken ) Henderson ( mr invisible ) Downing ( zero league goals or assists ) I REST MY CASE

    1. Jesus deano your an extremely angry man, instead of swearing and abusing other people maybe you could offer some constructive well thought out points.

    2. Deano, you cant come up with any informed logical arguements just cheap insults, go back to the kindergarten! The intellectuals are trying to have a grown-up debate!

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