My fears for the future of Liverpool FC

A diehard Red from Kirkby who stood on The Kop as a boy and went on to realise his dream of playing and captaining the club.

A classy defender who served Liverpool with distinction for over a decade and spent seven years on the coaching staff under Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness.

A dedicated servant who couldn’t resist the lure of the Reds when Gerard Houllier came calling to offer him the job of assistant manager.

These days Thompson’s passion for his first love burns as bright as ever but the Sky Sports pundit is hurting.

At the end of a nightmare season supporters can’t wait to see the back of, his club is wracked by uncertainty – from the search for new owners to intense speculation over the future of manager Rafa Benitez.

Liverpool are seriously lacking direction and Thompson admits he fears for the future.

“Doing what I do for Sky, I have to fight the demons all the time,” he said.

“People love to see the demise of Liverpool Football Club and have a pop at us. What’s going on upsets me – I hate seeing the football club being ridiculed like this.

“I’m an ex-player and an ex-assistant manager but overall I’m a fan.

“As a club we always did things well in the past but the way things have gone under the current ownership is shameful.”

Thompson admits there are parallels between now and May 2004 when Houllier and himself were shown the door after finishing fourth.

“I’ve been there and it’s not nice,” he said. “Everyone is talking about what’s going to happen. All the speculation is awful and this is the city when it comes to rumours.

“It’s a difficult time for everyone and you have to try to carry on under extremely difficult circumstances.

“I don’t relish the position Rafa and his staff are in. The only people who can sort it out are Rafa and those who run the football club.

“Whatever way it goes I hope it gets sorted quickly and in a sensible way.

“When Gerard left he gave a fantastic press conference. If Rafa does go I hope they come to an amicable agreement.

“This club has been in enough mess. We don’t want any more recriminations.

“In 2004 we wanted to stay but this time it’s probably going to be Rafa’s decision. It’s a very difficult situation he finds himself in.”

Supporters are split over Benitez. Many believe after six years the time has come for a parting of the ways, while others insist the club must fight tooth and nail to retain his services.

Juventus are waiting in the wings, desperate to prise Benitez away, and the Reds boss has demanded reassurances about the transfer cash at his disposal.

Thompson believes Benitez has been let down by the Anfield hierarchy.

“I sympathise with Rafa because a top level club needs strong leadership but it’s not there,” he said. “Our owners handle the club from far away and only seem to agree to disagree.

“If Rafa stays he has to be given a lot more help. Not just in terms of money but more consideration for the job he’s doing. He has to be allowed to concentrate on football, not balancing the books.

“We have to invest in the team because the squad is clearly not good enough. Spurs, Man City and Aston Villa have risen in recent years and their finances have got a lot bigger. Compare Spurs’ squad to ours, it’s got so much more depth.

“When Gerard and I finished fourth that wasn’t deemed good enough. But we didn’t have a billionaire-backed Manchester City in our way and Villa didn’t have the money they’ve spent in the last few years.

“If the club don’t back Rafa financially they might force him into the hands of Juventus. He might decide ‘how can I function with no finances to turn it around?'

“The other side of it is that a manager is judged on the signings he makes.

“Against Atletico Madrid last week he brought on Pacheco, El Zhar and Degen to try to turn things around.

“Okay we had injuries to Insua, Skrtel, Aurelio and Torres, but apart from Torres none of the rest would have made much difference.

“Our critics always pointed to the fact that big signings like Cheyrou, Diao and Diouf didn’t work out for us. Rafa has spent nearly £20million net, while we only spent £10million net.”

If Benitez does go, Thompson insists there is no guarantee Liverpool would land one of the top names who have been linked with the job.

And the 56-year-old believes the club won’t be able to progress until Tom Hicks and George Gillett sell up.

“The likes of Roy Hodgson, Martin O’Neill, Guus Hiddink and Jose Mourinho have been mentioned but would any of them come amid all the turmoil and if there’s no money to spend?,” he added.

“I hate the speculation about Torres and Gerrard leaving and I’m expecting it to go on right through the summer.

“There are no guarantees that even if we sold Torres, the manager would be able to use the cash to strengthen the squad.

“In a way it doesn’t matter whether Rafa stays or goes because until the club is sold we’re going nowhere.

“People are saying chairman Martin Broughton needs to sort out Rafa’s future but he wasn’t brought in for that. His brief was to sell the club and that’s what we need him to focus on.

“Martin has to tell the owners what is a proper price for the club and convince them to get the deal done quickly.

“These are worrying times and I’m dreading another transfer window where we have to settle for free transfers and cheap buys.

“It’s frightening where the football club is going. I fear for my club.”

Article published on LiverpoolEcho

The Return of 'THE KING'

Liverpool supporters were rejoicing last night after it was confirmed that Kenny Dalglish is to return to Anfield.After months of negotiations, the legendary former Liverpool player and manager has agreed to take on a senior role at the club’s academy, where he will be responsible for overseeing the development of their burgeoning young talents.Dalglish, 58, will also serve as a global ambassador for the club, fulfilling much the same duties as Sir Bobby Charlton does at Manchester United, although perhaps more pertinently in the eyes of Liverpool fans, he will act as a sounding board for Rafael Benítez, the manager.“I am very excited, but also a bit nervous,” Dalglish said. “For the boss to put his trust in me is a great compliment and I am coming back as a very lucky person. When you leave a club you don’t often have a chance to return, so I am fortunate. Rafa has made a very brave decision to revamp the academy.“There are lots of positive things happening here and there is a real feel-good factor around the place. Hopefully we can start producing players to challenge for a place in Rafa’s plans. It won’t happen overnight. There’s a lot of work to be done and I will do whatever is asked of me.”Benítez was instrumental in urging Dalglish to rejoin the club, more than 18 years after he resigned as manager, and his role as a buffer between the Spaniard and an incoming chief executive and Christian Purslow, the recently appointed managing director, could prove crucial to Liverpool’s success in the years ahead.The Liverpool manager often clashed with Rick Parry, whose 11-year tenure as chief executive formally ended on Wednesday. But fans will hope that Dalglish’s presence can help to avert some of the boardroom confrontations that have hampered the club in recent years and also have a positive impact on Benítez’s relationship with Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the American co-owners.“When you talk to Dalglish about players and football systems it’s clear he has a lot of experience,” Benítez said. “That’s good for the club and young players. We are bringing in new ideas and people \ but we’re keeping the spirit and the heart.”As far as mentors go, Liverpool’s aspiring players could probably not ask for anyone better to guide their futures than the man widely regarded as the best player in the club’s long and distinguished history.Bob Paisley, the former Liverpool manager, broke the British transfer record by paying Celtic £440,000 to bring Dalglish to Anfield in 1977 as a replacement for Kevin Keegan, and he did not disappoint. Dalglish scored 172 goals in 515 games for Liverpool, winning the European Cup three times and a host of other trophies in the process. As player-manager, he guided the club to their first league and cup double in his debut season in charge in 1985-86. He was also the last Liverpool manager to win the league title, in 1990, although Benítez will hope to change that next season.Although Dalglish’s resignation in February 1991 came as a bitter disappointment to the club, he brought a smile to the faces of Liverpool supporters again by managing Blackburn Rovers to the Premier League title at Manchester United’s expense in 1995 and he subsequently worked for Newcastle United and Celtic -TIMES ONLINE

Hillsborough Disaster.... 20 years on......

The Hillsborough disaster occurred on April 15, 1989, at Hillsborough, a football stadium in Sheffield, England, resulting in the loss of 96 lives.
Liverpool F.C. were involved in their 17th FA Cup Semi-Final, to be played against Nottingham Forest F.C. at Hillsborough, the home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C..

Football had been plagued by hooliganism for years in many countries but particularly in the United Kingdom. Football hooliganism in the UK often involves pitch invasions and the throwing of a variety of missiles - in response most stadiums placed high chainlink fences between the seats and terraces and the pitch (terraces were cheaper standing areas without seats). However, it was not hooliganism that day, but the fear of it, that led to the death of ninety-six people.

The stadium was divided into two parts in order to keep the opposing fans apart: the Liverpool supporters being assigned to the Leppings Lane End. Kick off was scheduled for 3.00pm and many of the Liverpool supporters were late arriving. By 2.45pm there was a considerable buildup of fans outside the turnstiles at the Leppings Lane End, all eager to enter the stadium before the match started. With a crowd of 5000 fans (est) trying to get through the turnstiles the police decided to open a second set of gates which did not have turnstiles. The resulting inpouring of hundreds (possibly thousands) of fans at the rear of the terraces caused a crush at the front where people were pressed against the fencing. For some time the problem was not noticed and it was not until 3:06pm that the referee stopped the game. By this time a small door in the fencing had been opened and by this route many escaped the crush - others climbed over the fencing.

The pitch quickly started to fill with people sweating and gasping for breath and with the bodies of the dead. The police and ambulance services were overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster and fans helped as best they could, many attempting CPR and some tearing down advertising hoardings to act as makeshift stretchers. The crush ultimately took the lives of 96 people.

Graphic footage of the disaster was available because the match was being broadcast and this along with the number of fatalities made an extreme impact on the general population.

A permanent tribute to those who lost their lives can be found alongside the Shankly Gates at Anfield. A further tribute was set up in 1999 at Hillsborough.

The Taylor Inquiry

Following the disaster, Lord Justice Taylor was appointed to conduct an inquiry into the tragedy. Taylor's inquiry sat for thirty one days and published two reports, one interim report that laid out the events of the day and immediate conclusions and one final report that made general recommendations on football ground safety. As a result of the inquiry, fences in front of fans were removed and stadia were converted to become all-seated.

There was considerable debate over some aspects of the disaster; in particular, attention was focused on the decision to open the secondary gates. It was suggested that it would have been better to delay the start of the game as had often been done at other venues and matches. The police claimed that they were concerned that the crush outside the stadium was getting out of control and accusations were made that some Liverpool fans did not have tickets and were trying to force the turnstiles. Other accusations of misbehaviour were made in relation to the crowd, however, no substantial evidence was presented to this effect.

Boycott The Sun

On the Tuesday following the disaster, Kelvin MacKenzie, then editor of The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch, used the front page headline 'THE TRUTH', with three sub-headlines: 'Some fans picked pockets of victims'; 'Some fans urinated on the brave cops'; 'Some fans beat up PC giving kiss of life'.

The story accompanying these headlines claimed that 'drunken Liverpool fans viciously attacked rescue workers as they tried to revive victims' and 'police officers, firemen and ambulance crew were punched, kicked and urinated upon'. A quote, attributed to an unnamed policeman, claimed that a dead girl had been abused and that Liverpool fans 'were openly urinating on us and the bodies of the dead'.

In their history of The Sun, Peter Chippendale and Chris Horrie wrote:
'As MacKenzie's layout was seen by more and more people, a collective shudder ran through the office [but] MacKenzie's dominance was so total there was nobody left in the organisation who could rein him in except Murdoch. [Everyone] seemed paralysed, "looking like rabbits in the headlights", as one hack described them. The error staring them in the face was too glaring. It obviously wasn't a silly mistake; nor was it a simple oversight. Nobody really had any comment on it—they just took one look and went away shaking their heads in wonder at the enormity of it. It was a "classic smear".'

Lord Justice Taylor's official inquiry into the disaster disparaged The Sun's story and was unequivocal as to the disaster's cause:
'The real cause of the Hillsborough disaster [was] overcrowding, the main reason for the disaster was the failure of police control.'

Following The Sun's report, the newspaper was boycotted by most newsagents in Liverpool, with many refusing to stock the tabloid and large numbers of readers cancelling orders and even refusing to buy from shops which did stock the newspaper.

MacKenzie explained his reporting in 1993. Talking to a House of Commons National Heritage Select Committee he said "I regret Hillsborough. It was a fundamental mistake. The mistake was I believed what an MP said. It was a Tory MP. If he had not said it and the chief superintendent had not agreed with it, we would not have gone with it." This explanation was not accepted by families of Hillsborough victims. Even fifteen years after the Hillsborough disaster, the circulation of The Sun in Liverpool is still reckoned to be only 12,000 copies a day where previously it was around 200,000.

The Sun itself issued an apology "without reservation" in a full page opinion piece on 7 July 2004, saying it had that "committed the most terrible mistake in its history." The Sun was responding to the intense criticism of Wayne Rooney, a Liverpool-born football star who then still played in the city (for Everton), who had sold his life story to the newspaper. Rooney's actions had incensed Liverpool dwellers still angry at The Sun. The Sun's apology was somewhat bullish, saying that the "campaign of hate" against Rooney was organised in part by the Liverpool Daily Post & Echo, owned by Trinity Mirror, who also own the Daily Mirror, arch-rivals of The Sun. Thus the apology actually served to anger some Liverpudlians further. The Liverpool Echo itself did not accept the apology, calling it "shabby" and "an attempt, once again, to exploit the Hillsborough dead."

Man Utd Vs Liverpool Screening

Spaceman Spiff...Speaks

Ok, if you're expecting a raving lunatic going ga-ga over Liverpool, then you'll be disappointed as you read further. So, here's the Statutory Warning: Post by a Non-Liverpool/Football Fan. Wearing a Blue tee to a LP match, I think, is proof enough.
So, as I moved my butt through occupied bar-stools, a few tore they eyes off the big screen to give me a dirty look..which said…"Oi! It's Liverpool mate…. Red..not Blue!". Finally into a uncomfy chair, I ordered for a tall .. cool glass of….Ice Tea :P. And without doubt, it was one of the best I've had.
Anyways, by the time I was settled in, Arsenal had scored 1 ..to LP's 0. I won't go through the commentary, or the match highlights, this post isn't about that. This post is about the hooligans that were seated at Irish Pub, Khar, hurling abuses at the opposite team with more fervor than the players themselves.. and a few directed towards the Referee too.
While I am a complete noob when it comes to players and teams, game rules, I am acquainted with. So, it was fairly easy to side with Liverpool once I figured out which jersey was LP's… thirst quenched, I showed off the best of the array of bad words I had for the referee .. He just wasn't strict enough ..bloody bald bugger.
While the match wasn't the best performance by LP afaik, it did show that LP fans in Mumbai do know how to don their sombreros, mouth off the choicest slang, and at the end of the day… have a great time, which also includes singing mundane songs, which made no sense to me…. Remember that movie where first contact is made with the aliens, and communication is done using some mundane tune? Well, yeah.. I felt like the alien from space, only thing was, I simply didn't get what these almost extinct dodo's were trying to say in their whole cacophony of cheering.
All in all… looking forward to the next LFMC meet… till then I'm learning new languages…by which I mean the abuses from those languages of course!

The Gaffa Speaks

How many people in this world have been refered to as 'God'. Not even the fans of greats lile maradona, zidane and pele called them 'the almighty'. this will certainly bring a smile on the face of liverpool fans who have followed the club over the years..when a local lad called Robbie Fowler banged in goals left right centre with his gifted left foot. If that was not enough we had players like Jamie Redknapp Ruling the midfield and my favorite Steve Mcmanaman crafting his way passed defender with utmost ease,the ball rolling on the outside line like a line tracking robot. These were the spice boys, young lads with beautiful wives by their side outside of football and gracing the pitch at anfield that was once a fortress in the 70's and 80's thanks to Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley. A lot has happened since then.

The most decorated club in England who won the Top Division in England at ease was now only a Cup team thanks to blunders committed at the board and management level. These were the 90's.

In 1998, the club appointed the previous French team manager Gerard Houlier to work alongwith Roy Evans, our legendary manager. Made some controversial exchange of players, like offloading McManaman, Ince, McAteer and so on. And brought in players like Hamann, Traore, Hyypia, Smicer and others. The best of the lot to be Hyypia. Never really took off as a good manager with his managerial skills, but was deeply adored by fans nonetheless.

Fast forward to 2005 an ambitious young manager who had an excellent track record signed for liverpool replacing Gerrard Houllier who had led the club to many a victories in cup competitions but lacked what it took to compete for the league for more reasons than one.

This manager as we all know is indeed Rafael Benitez famous for the excess usage of words like 'Quaaaalitee'(Quality) and 'passibities'(Possibilities).

I thought it was a bit too late now to catch United and Arsenal.The emergence of Chelsea made the task all the more difficult. I don't want to comment on the 2005 season as every football fans knows of our legendary Road to Istanbul.

While the other clubs have taken steps to improve,liverpool have taken strides to catch up and till now its fair to say Rafa has done a splendid Job. Rivals might disagree with that but hey only a fool will not acknowledge his efforts and performance. While Mourinho had the millions of Roman at his disposal, Arsenal with their famed Youth system and the united with all their resources Rafa has managed to transform liverpool from a mere cup team to a team that is getting ready to last the distance.

This Season:

Things have been good so far for us especially away from home. There are a few things i would like to change but hey there are always ups and downs in football. At the beginning of the season if someone had told me that we would top the league and our group in Europe, I would have called him a wackjob.People say its due to the United fixture list and that they come good in the second half of the season, but so do we. and this time we have the players needed although not as much as uniteds to win it. But i don't want to jinx it by saying 'This is our year' and i will not say it till i see Steven Gerrard lift the trophy.(hopefully at anfield).


LMFC.

Geography Sucks. It is the only reason why I am not close to my club. Hence to fill in the void, me along with a few other friends i made on orkut. we decided to form a group which will get all the supporters of the only RED team in the world that matters together. And till now things have been going great for us. There have been Hicupps, infact a lot. The main problem was trust. Nobody would want to be standing on a Sunday morning at Shivaji Park waiting for people who he or she has never met. Lots of attempts were made previously to kick start this organization by various people but we decided its time to take action and we finally met. Started with 6 guys and now though we have higly fluctuating attendances,it is safe to say that there are atleast 40 members actively participating in the activities of the lmfc football team while 10 more who join us during screenings of matches. During screenings we bring the KOP to us. Electric atmosphere is usually associated with the Kopiites but we are no less. We right now have close to 190 members and are steadily increasing. We hope to apply for official status soon although its going to be difficult but hey there is no easy way when it comes Liverpool.